This is a follow-up to “Free Saruul Agvandoorj!” It’s great that Saruul is free, and let’s hope that all of the political prisoners in Mongolia are released soon. Here is a message from Saruul Agvandoorj about the whole story behind the peaceful protest that landed her in jail:
A message from Saruul
Dear Greens around the world,
Many thanks to you for your generous support for our release and Mongolian democracy.
The Mongolian parliamentary elections, this year and since 1990, have been manipulated by the Mongolian Communist Party, which is also called the Mongolian Revolutionary Party. The false results made many people angry. Because of the corruption and law-breaking of the Mongolian Communist Party, many people, mostly young, protested to voice their opposition. One young man was shot in the eye by the police. He lost his eye.
When the Communist Party chief, who is also the Prime Minister, did not appear, the protesters grew more angry. Their calls for change grew louder. Some police in civilian clothes made the protesters even angrier. No one knew they were police because of their civilian clothing. Some young men took stones, then everybody began to collect stones for throwing. Nobody knows where the petroleum and some chemical substances came from. By the evening, the building was on fire.
On July 11th, there was a big fight between the police and protesters. On the 12th of July, 800 young men, 9 women and 14 children were arrested. 8 people were killed. The police hunted them like antelope. 6 young men lost their eyes.
Many people could not understand why the police were shooting people in the eyes and killing them. Why were these poor people, without any guns or knives, hunted like wild animals? Many of the arrested people did not know their rights. They were punished. They had to sign some documents because they were very afraid or injured. And the Communist leaders, including the President of Mongolia, didn’t want to release those political prisoners.
Arslan and I began a silent sitting strike opposite of the government building. We called for the release of those political prisoners. The Communist leaders always say, “Mongolia is a democratic country.” We believe there should not be political prisoners in a democracy. We also protested against the Mongolian dictatorship. That is the real reason why we were jailed for 14 days.
The government lawyer, who sent us to jail, told us, “It was not a sitting strike. It was a demonstration.” But in the report of the national human rights commission of Mongolia, written in 2007, stated that, “A strike is not a demonstration.” In spite of the report, the lawyer was directed by Communist leaders and the President of Mongolia to arrest us. They don’t like the words “political prisoners” and “no dictatorship.”
In Mongolia, we have a real Communist dictatorship like before 1989. Calling it the mafia is more accurate. Our Communists must win elections to make big money from foreign mining companies. And as a so-called democratic country, they can get financial support from the G-8 countries. It is similar to the situation of many African countries.
It was unbelievable that we were released. Thank you all dear Greens. We were only fed bread and water for 14 days. Today someone told me that the police did not want to release us.
We are not really free though. They are listening to my phone calls and more. We will continue to organize.
Thank you and God bless you all!
Peace,
Saruul
Green Ferret 
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