"I do not expect a free trial. But to give up means the end of journalism in Mongolia"

As the police arrived at the door of our newsroom to march us out of the office, I wrote on the wall: “Freedom is precious.” Our news site was taken down from the internet and my colleagues and I set up a protest in front of the State Great Khural, the Mongolian parliament. Afterwards, a contact told me the government was looking to “shut me up”. I did not suspect that by “shut up” they meant imprison.

I have been a journalist in Mongolia for nearly 20 years. I started my career as the country was emerging from the democratic transformation that followed decades of state communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Corruption was endemic and there was no tradition of real journalism.

When I was a young reporter, it was not customary for journalists to question politicians. Rather, a politician would call on a reporter and expect them to write exactly what they were told. It was news to order.

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