What started as an ordinary game night for young employees of a rising media company turned into a shocking police raid – sparking a nationwide outcry for press freedom in Mongolia.
On the night of March 17, eight employees of Noorog Creative Studio, a digital media outlet known for its bold investigative work, were abruptly detained by the Cyber Crime Department. The journalists, aged 20–27, were taken into custody under Article 19.9.1 of the Criminal Law Act for allegedly “undermining national unity” – a charge that has never before led to a criminal indictment since the law’s enactment in 2015. The penalty is five to 12 years imprisonment.
The employees were interrogated for nearly nine hours overnight, from 9:50 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., with some reportedly questioned without legal representation. Their devices were confiscated upon arrest, and it remains unclear whether they were given the right to communicate with legal counsel. The police also raided Noorog’s office, seizing computers and hard drives.
According to local media reports, the charges stem from accusations of “spreading false information” on the outlet’s Facebook page. As the UB Post summarized, “This investigation was reportedly initiated based on a complaint submitted via a fake address in a chat message, which claimed that Noorog’s content had caused individuals to consider suicide.”
Concerningly, the State Prosecutor’s Office said that it had rejected a proposal to arrest the Noorog journalists immediately, because “the legal grounds for detention had not been established.”
The timing of the operation has raised serious concerns, as it comes just weeks after the outlet announced its upcoming documentary, “18 Days.” The film, set for release in June, follows six citizens through Mongolia’s 2024 parliamentary election campaign, aiming to expose the strategies and tactics used to sway voters.
Ulamsaikhan Otgon, Noorog’s founder, told ikon, a Mongolian media outlet, that the documentary “followed ordinary citizens who were not party members. We showed the propaganda and the process that was coming to six people. We did it to show how elections are conducted in Mongolia.” Ulamsaikhan said he was now unsure if the documentary could be released, as editing had not yet finished and 14 terabytes worth of footage was on the hard drives seized by the Cyber Crime Department.
Mongolia’s press freedom has been on a steep decline lately, ranking 109th out of 180 countries in the 2024 RSF World Press Freedom Index – a dramatic fall of 36 places since 2020. While state influence over the media is widely acknowledged, the rise of independent outlets like Noorog has given younger audiences an alternative, critical voice.
Following public outrage, the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs made a statement denying any connection between the arrests and press freedom. Meanwhile, the initial charge against the detainees – allegedly “undermining national unity” – has been shifted dramatically. Authorities now claim the case involves an “online gambling” fraud scheme worth nearly $2.6 million. This sudden change in the official narrative has only fueled public skepticism, with critics arguing that the government is attempting to justify in retrospect the unprecedented raid and detentions.
With investigative journalism in Mongolia facing mounting pressure and no robust legal protections, this crackdown signals an increasingly hostile environment for independent media. Without meaningful reform, Mongolia risks slipping further down the global press freedom rankings – and deeper into censorship and control.
