The General Judiciary Council of Mongolia filed a complaint with the investigative body due to journalist N.Unurtsetseg, chief-editor of the zarig.mn newsite operating in Mongolia was posting an article on her personal account on Facebook saying that, it is inhumane to continue a court hearing in which an elderly person is participating for many hours.

Accordingly, journalist N.Unurtsetseg was charged with the crime of "Spreading false information" under Article 13.14 of the Criminal Code. According to this article, "sanction for public dissemination of clearly false information that harms a person's honor, reputation, or business reputation of a legal entity, a fine of four hundred and fifty units to one thousand three hundred units, or a term of two hundred and forty hours to seven hundred and twenty hours performing community service or penalty of limitation of free travel right for a period of one to three months will be charged”

I am honored to be with you today. This is a day for us to take a moment to reflect on and cherish the critical importance of a free press. 

The free media and independent journalists are the most important assets of our democracy.

Globe International Center, the National Commission of UNESCO, and the Independent Authority Against  Corruption of Mongolia jointly organized the discussion "The importance of the online space for access to information” for the International Day of Universal Access to Information. 

To raise public awareness on free press, freedoms of speech and expression, GIC organized a multi stakeholder conference on 27 May, 2023. A total of 66 stakeholders attended including public officials, media, journalists, CSOs and academia. The conference aimed to provide a platform for multi-faceted discussions based on research and case studies. The consultation discussed the potential risks of criminalizing defamation, international standards of freedom of speech, and how the current laws on violations affect journalists and media workers. GIC sent the official invitation and request to participate as a speaker to the public authorities including MOJHA, Parliament Standing Committee, and NHRC in the conference. 

The media outlets were selected for training that are including “The Zuunii medee” daily newspaper, news.mn and gogo.mn. A total of 45 journalists attended in the training for news outlets and raised awareness issue of the criminal law amendment and international standard.