Eco-warrior or eco-terrorist? Mongolia jails environmentalist for 21 years
Tsetsegee Munkhbayar in Mongolia. Pic: Goldman Environmental Prize.
By Michelle Tolson Jan 28, 2014
One week ago, the courts of Mongolia sentenced environmental activist and former herder Tsetsegee Munkhbayar and four other members of the “Fire Nation” group to 21-and-a-half years in prison each for “acts of terrorism.” He had come to deliver a petition to Parliament to stop the amendment of a 2009 law, called “the Long Name Law,” created to ban mineral exploration near river heads, reservoirs and water sources so as to guard against pollution. Activists say the amendment would have weakened the law he had fought so hard for. According to local media reports, he had brought fire arms and (inactive) grenades to his protest.