Detained for Thinking: Mongolia's Free Speech Crisis

A philosopher says, "There are no such people as Mongolians." Two weeks later, he's in pretrial detention.Molor-Erdene—a controversial Mongolian philosopher and public intellectual—was detained on September 2nd under Article 19.9 of the Criminal Code, which covers "undermining national unity," a charge carrying a sentence of five to twelve years. His alleged crime: stating on a Facebook talk show that "Mongolians" as a people don't exist, that Chinggis Khan wasn't Mongol, and that Mongolia's historical identity is a construction that holds the country back from thinking about its future.We break down what Molor-Erdene actually argued, and was his argument were sufficient to be detained. More importantly, we examine what this case reveals about the state of free speech in Mongolia: a "national unity" law loosely used to undermine freedom of speech, a Justice Minister with a pattern of deploying legal power against critics, and a political environment where the chilling effect may already be doing its job.We also ask: where was the Justice Minister when an MP was on attacking Mongolia's Kazakh minority with racist language? Why is abstract philosophical provocation a criminal matter, but concrete ethnic discrimination is not?NOTE: Minister of Justice, S Amarsaikhan was dismissed on Sept. 16 on unrelated issues discussed in this episode.Please comment and rate the show,And If you have suggestions for the show get in touch at info[at]agulamedia.comAnd you can support us at Buy Me a Coffee — buymeacoffee.com/greatstatemural — thank you. or Donate directly to our bank account: MN790015003105153063Hosts: Anand, Dolgion, JulianKeywords: Mongolia | free speech | national unity | Molor-Erdene | Amarsaikhan | censorship | authoritarianism | Freedom of Speech | Chinggis Khaan|