Citizens stage 2nd peaceful protest outside Russian Embassy
Last Saturday, Mongolians staged the second peaceful demonstration outside the Russian Embassy in Ulaanbaatar in support of Ukraine and protest against the embassy’s latest statements.
Citizen G.Javkhlantugs expressed, “Mongolians have the right to freedom of expression. I view that Russian Ambassador to Mongolia Iskander Kubarovich Azizov’s statement infringed on the rights of citizens of Mongolia. Therefore, we are staging a demonstration for the second time to exercise our rights and express our views. Our country has close ties with Russia.
However, the involvement of an embassy in the internal affairs of an independent state is disrespectful to diplomacy. We oppose the war and urge the ambassador not to interfere in the internal affairs of Mongolia.”
On its Facebook page, the Russian Embassy posted a statement on March 24 addressing members of the Democratic Party of Mongolia (DP) and supporters of US liberal rule. It was about a former advisor to Donald Trump who shared strong opinions in support of Russia’s “special military operation to demilitarize Ukraine”. On March 25, the embassy also wrote on its Facebook account, “We do not see any grounds for claims regarding interference in the internal affairs of Mongolia or DP.”
In connection with this issue, the Ministry of Foreign Relations informed that it would send a diplomatic note to the Russian Embassy. However, the ministry has not yet sent the note to the embassy.
On March 26, citizens staged a peaceful protest outside the Russian Ministry for the first time in history.
Moreover, some protesters were summoned and interrogated by the police in connection with the demonstration. Representative of No Double Standard movement E.Odbayar confirmed this, saying that he was summoned by the police to testify.
The General Police Department clarified, “On March 26, 2022, a citizen called the police to stop the demonstration. Accordingly, the First Division of the Sukhbaatar District Police Department is investigating whether the protesters committed a crime or violation. In other words, according to the complaint by a citizen, the police summoned relevant organizers of the demonstration to get a witness statement.”