Ulaanbaatar
Court of Appeals conducting closed trial in murder of S.Zorig
PoliticsUlaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Trial is being conducted today the at Municipal Appelate Court at the request of the convicts accused of murdering S.Zorig. T.Sodnomdarjaa, T.Chimgee and Ts.Amgalanbaatar were sentenced to 24-25 years in prison last December, and are taking part in today’s trial through internet.
Attorneys representing T.Sodnomdarjaa nd T.Chimgee put requests to run the trial in an open regime.
Same requests was put forward by late S.Zorig’s younger sister S.Oyun. Today’s appellate trial is taking place following her complaint.
S.Oyun, however, was unable to attend the trial due to a business trip abroad and sent her brother S.Bayar as her accredited agent. Her lawyer L.Enkhsaikhan also conveyed her request to conduct open trial, as “the appellate court does not consider the records and evidences discussed during the original trial and only considers whether or not the legal provisions were used accordingly”.
S.Bayar and defendants T.Sodnomdarjaa and T.Chimgee made the same request, whereas Ts.Amgalanbaatar made no comment.
State Prosecutor J.Sandag-Ochir proposed a close trial, based on analysts’ conclusions, according to which the case concerns top secrets of state.
After judges’ discussion of the requests, Chief Judge S.Soyombo-Erdene introduced the decision saying “the case of murder of Sanjaasurengiin Zorig has been regarded as subject to top secret of state since October 5, 1998, pursuant to expert’s conclusion in pages 215-220 of the case file”. So forth, the trial is being held behind closed doors.
