Post by тσρтєиhυитєя on Feb 27, 2017 20:08:27 GMT -5
(Above Photo Credit: www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/c0b48638-d257-11e6-9341-7393bb2e1b51)
Zorig show here in this 1991 file photo with a statue of Sukh Bator, founder of modern Mongolia in the background.
Mongolia seeks answers to killing of independence hero
Many believe Sanjaasuren Zorig’s 1998 murder was ordered by someone at the top
Sanjaasuregiin Zorig, founder of the democracy movement in Mongolia, a minister in the ruling Democratic Coalition and a possible candidate for prime minister, was axed and stabbed to death at his home late October 2, 1998 in the capital Ulan Bator.
January 7, 2017 8:01 am by Lucy Hornby in Beijing
It is a grisly murder mystery that has cast a shadow over Mongolian politics for almost 20 years.
The east Asian nation has finally launched an investigation to identify who ordered the assassination of Sanjaasuren Zorig, a hero of Mongolia’s independence from the Soviet Union who was stabbed to death in 1998, hours after being nominated as prime minister.
Two men and a woman were last month convicted of the murder in a closed court but the secret four-day trial failed to reveal who hired them — stoking conspiracy theories that the killing was a politically motivated hit carried out at the behest of someone at the top.
Mongolian media outlets have alleged that the mastermind’s bodyguard was part of the gang who carried out the killing, before being murdered by one of the men sentenced last week. Amid mounting criticism over why the state has not revealed the names involved, Ulan Bator’s state general prosecutor on Wednesday announced an investigation into who ordered the assassination.
Mogi Badral Bontoi of the Cover Mongolia consultancy said: “People are not convinced by this trial. It seems weird to sentence someone and then look for the guy who ordered the killing.”
The bloody murder of Zorig, who was stabbed multiple times after he returned to his Ulan Bator home, is seen by many Mongolians as ending the idealism that accompanied the early years of their democracy. The secret trial, imprisonment of people suspected of involvement in the case, and even a state-sponsored kidnapping, have all fuelled the idea that a senior figure was behind the killing.
Oyun Sanjaasuren, Zorig’s sister and founder of the Civil Will party, said in an email: “Our family has asked for a declassifying of the case and we have been calling for [an] open hearing. The requests have not been met. We do not think the case has been fully solved or closed.”
From Wikipedia:
Zorig was murdered on Friday, October 2, 1998. Two assailants entered his apartment, tied up his wife Bulgan, and waited. As soon as Zorig stepped through the door they jumped him, stabbing him sixteen times, including three stab wounds to the heart. Strangely, they stole a bottle of vinegar and a bottle of soy sauce from the refrigerator before fleeing the apartment. Four days after the murder, mourners crowded Sukhbaatar Square, holding candlelight vigils. His body lay in the Government House before his burial on Wednesday, October 7. The government crisis lingered for another two months until Janlavyn Narantsatsralt, the mayor of Ulaanbaatar, was finally named the new Prime Minister in December 1998.
His murder remains unsolved, although the timing led to speculation that someone with insider knowledge of Zorig's impending elevation to the post of Prime Minister took action to prevent it. Zorig's wife Bulgan came under suspicion and was briefly held by police, but no charges were ever brought. Oyun believes that her brother was murdered to prevent him from mounting an anti-corruption campaign as Prime Minister.
Any thoughts? This I went over this case while reading some Mongolian history, and I just had to post it on here, but I'm not convinced and neither are the Mongolian people, about this trial they had for the 2 individuals brought in late last year. Sanjaasürengiin Zorig was pretty big in the 1990s since he led the protests that toppled the former communist system. I also must point out ironically that the Leader of the 1921 revolution & Father of Modern Mongolia, Sukhbaatar; Former Communist leader Marshal Choibalsan, who was in charge during World War II; and Zorig, all influential in Mongolia's history died under mysterious circumstances.
[[P.S. For those that are curious, Sukhbaatar Square was renamed Chinggis Square in October 2013]]
www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/c0b48638-d257-11e6-9341-7393bb2e1b51
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjaasürengiin_Zorig