Mongolia: Anti-corruption protests lead to resignation of prime minister as crackdown on journalists persists

Civic space in Mongolia is rated as 'obstructed' by the CIVICUS Monitor. Ongoing concerns raised by civil society include reports of harassment, intimidation and reprisals against human rights defenders, especially those working to defend economic, social and cultural rights. Further, provisions of the Criminal Code related to ‘cooperation with foreign intelligence agencies’ and ‘sabotage’ have been used to prosecute human rights defenders for legitimate activities. There are also concerns about press freedom and the criminalisation of journalists.

In March 2025, the UN Human Rights Committee reviewed Mongolia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

In May 2025, Amnesty International reported that in 2024, Article 13.14 of the Criminal Code (spreading of false information) was used to file investigations and claims against journalists and citizens who criticised authorities. Sixteen of these were related to journalists; four cases were forwarded to the prosecutor to initiate a criminal case.

In the same month, youth-led anti-corruption protests erupted in Ulaanbaatar, with hundreds demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene after social media photos of his son's lavish lifestyle sparked an anti-corruption investigation and the mass protests. Oyun-Erdene rejected allegations of corruption, accusing critics of launching a smear campaign against him.

Over 40,000 people signed a petition demanding political accountability. The protestors outlined three key demands: The resignation of the Prime Minister; the dissolution of the coalition government and rejection of any new coalition formations, and preservation of constitutional stability.

On 3rd June 2025, Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene lost a vote of no confidence in the State Great Khural, Mongolia’s parliament, and resigned. He now remains in a caretaker role until a new Prime Minister is appointed.

In recent months, journalists continue to be targeted on vague charges for their reporting. The UN Human Rights Committee raised concerns on restrictions on peaceful assemblies and ongoing intimidation and legal action against journalists and human rights defenders in Mongolia. The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy also raised an alarm over the expansion of state surveillance.

Peaceful Assembly

Youth-led anti-corruption protests in Ulaanbaatar

On 14th May 2025, large-scale youth-led demonstrations erupted in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in response to allegations of corruption tied to the family of Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene.

Hundreds of mostly young protesters gathered at the capital Ulaanbaatar's Sukhbaatar Square, also known as Genghis Khan Square. Organisers of the protest established an Instagram account ogtsrokh_amarkhan with a hashtag which attracted more young Mongolians. Protesters carried banners and sang songs calling for the PM to resign.

Anima, a member of protest group Ogtsroh Amarhan (Resigning is Easy) said: “With no visible sources of income, their display of luxury bags, private travel, and high-end living was a blatant slap in the face to the average Mongolian citizen.” She added that the protests were symptomatic of a widening disconnect between the ruling elite and everyday people.

The protests were triggered by social media posts from the fiancée of Temuulen Luvsannamsrai, the Prime Minister’s 23-year-old son, which showcased luxury handbags, expensive jewellery, and a Mercedes-Benz. These displays of wealth fuelled public outrage over perceived misuse of public funds and reinforced long-standing concerns about corruption within the ruling elite.

UN Human Rights Committee highlights restrictions on peaceful assemblies

On 28th March 2025, the UN Human Rights Committee published its findings on its main concerns and recommendations on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in Mongolia.

The body highlighted concerns regarding restrictions on peaceful assemblies, particularly those critical of the government or in support of LGBTI rights.

Reports indicated that assemblies were often suppressed directly or indirectly, with law enforcement allegedly using disproportionate force and engaging in arbitrary arrests and detentions to disperse peaceful protests.

While the introduction of a draft law revising demonstration procedures was welcomed, concerns remained that police authorisation for assemblies on main roads could undermine the proposed notification regime.

Additional concern was expressed over a lack of transparency around a bill to criminalise obstruction of mining and development projects, which could negatively impact the right to peaceful assembly.

Expression

Journalists detained under vague charges of “undermining national unity”

On 17th March 2025, eight journalists from Noorog Creative Studio were detained by Mongolia’s Cyber Crime Department under Article 19.9.1 of the Criminal Law Act for allegedly “undermining national unity” — a charge that carries a prison sentence of up to 12 years. The arrests prompted concern over the use of broad national security laws to suppress investigative journalism. Eight members of staff were detained and interrogated for eight hours, and their computers and hard drives were seized by police. The staff were then released.

Government officials later claimed the arrests were linked to alleged online gambling activity. During a Judiciary Standing Committee session on 25th March 2025, the Minister of Justice presented information about the detentions. Human Rights Commission members raised concerns about due process violations, confiscation of devices, and the nature of interrogations.

Observers noted the arrests came just ahead of the outlet’s planned June 2025 release of “18 Days”, a documentary exploring Mongolia’s democratic processes from a citizen perspective. RSF Asia-Pacific condemned this spate of arrests as “intolerable” and a “serious attack on source confidentiality and press freedom”. It also raised the concerns that the search was carried out under “false pretexts”.

RSF Asia-Pacific highlighted Mongolia’s concerning decline of press freedom, its rankings dropping 36 places in the RSF index since 2020. Mongolia ranks 102nd out of 180 countries by RSF’s index in 2025.

The arrests of the media workers at Noorog Creative Studio appear to be part of a wider pattern of surveillance, harassment, and detention of media workers in Mongolia that has emerged in the last few years. In 2024, two alarming cases of prominent journalists surfaced. Firstly, on 19th July 2024, prominent journalist Unurtsetseg Naran was sentenced in a closed-door trial for a laundry-list of unrelated and arbitrary charges, amongst them “tax evasion”, “spreading false information”, and “money laundering.”

In a second case, the editor-in-chief of a Mongolian online media outlet was arrested and prosecuted for investigating the appropriation of public funds by the deputy Prime Minister. Bayarmaa Ayurzana was arrested on 5th May 2024 and detained for 48 hours. Similar to the Noorog case, she faced criminal charges under the Mongolian criminal code, with custodial sentences of up to eight years.

UN body alarmed about declining freedom of expression

The UN Human Rights Committee also raised concerns over ongoing intimidation and legal action against journalists and human rights defenders in Mongolia, including the use of defamation suits and criminal prosecution under overly broad criminal law provisions relating to dissemination of false information.

The Committee observed that the Law on State and Official Secrets continued to be used to restrict access to information. Authorities were urged to strengthen protections for journalists and human rights defenders, revise restrictive legislation, enhance access to public information, and ensure media independence through greater transparency of media ownership.

At the same time, it welcomed the adoption of the Law on Personal Data Protection and the revised law on the National Human Rights Commission, including the creation of a national torture prevention mechanism

UN expert flags rising surveillance

From 8th to 14th April 2025, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, Ana Brian Nougrères, conducted an official visit to Mongolia.

In her preliminary findings, the expert also raised an alarm over the expansion of state surveillance, citing “an extensive CCTV system in public areas” of the capital, and urged authorities to ensure citizens are better informed about how their data is collected and used.

The expert welcomed Mongolia’s 2021 Law on Personal Data Protection as a key step forward, but flagged the rising number of cyberattacks (1.6 million in 2024) and the urgent need for enhanced privacy impact assessments and safeguards.