Mongolia’s leadership faced growing
international pressure over its treatment of a detained former president before
a local court on Monday sanctioned his release.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D.-Calif.) said
on the Senate floor on Monday she had been in contact over the weekend with
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s office, sending a reminder of the “need for due
process” in Mongolia. In recent days, Mongolian officials faced questions from
the U.S. State Department, plus criticism from a formerU.S. ambassador toUlan
Bator.

Amnesty International cast doubt on the
legitimacy of the detention. 

Also pushing was United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon, who this week called Mongolia’s current president,
Elbegdorj Tsakhia, according to the Mongolian government.

Global focus on Mongolia for once has had
little to do with its landscape or sizzling economy. Instead, international
attention reflected concern about treatment of the former president, Enkhbayar
Nambar, who spent more than a week protesting his detention with a hunger
strike. More fundamentally, the international focus was grounded in questions
about whether Ulan Bator’s handling of the case might compromise Mongolia’s
commitment to rule of law.

In his call to President Elbegdorj, the U.N.
secretary general said he was “truly hesitant” to intervene but was
nevertheless worried about Mr. Enkhbayar’s physical condition, according to a
Mongolian government statement dated Monday that appears to be the transcript
of the conversation.

“I hope you’ll understand that I am
calling you very hesitantly on this issue,” the U.N. head said. “There is a
growing concern over the health of former president Mr. Enkhbayar. I hope you
are paying your attention to his health situation.”.

On Monday, a court ordered Mr. Enkhbayar
released from detention after a month spent in jails and hospital beds. SWAT teams had detained him in a dramatic
mid-April arrest on the orders of the country’s anti-corruption commission,
which says Mr. Enkhbayar ignored numerous requests to face questions about
alleged misuse of state property while in office. 

Despite the release, government plans to
pursue charges remain on track, according to people close to the judiciary in Mongolia.
Mr. Enkhbayar’s own lawyer said this week he expects charges and is pessimistic
about the outcome.

President of the nation until he was defeated
by Mr. Elbegdorj in 2009, Mr. Enkhbayar was hoping to return to politics by
winning a parliamentary seat in June 28 elections—and push for the dismantling
of some of the country’s biggest mining deals, according to his statements.

Despite having been freed, the 53-year-old
Mr. Enkhbayar remains hospitalized. His family says the hunger strike left him
in frail health. On Tuesday they said he was taking nourishment but only in
small doses to avoid further damaging his body.

The court’s release was conditioned on
pledges from Mr. Enkhbayar’s family members that he would return to face
justice.

Led by his U.S- educated son Enkhbayar
Batshugar, a banker, and the son’s fiancée, Darima Tumur, the family played an
important role drumming up international attention, dispatching a flurry of
passionate emails about his health. They
enlisted the help not only of politicians and the media, but of bankers and
financiers who know their father, including a former top Goldman Sachs &
Co. executive, John L. Thornton. 

The family hired Tony Blair’s attorney
general, Peter Goldsmith, who made a brief visit to the country last week and
pressed for intervention by human-rights groups including Amnesty
International, which last week said the arrest appeared arbitrary.

Kurt Campbell, assistant U.S. Secretary of
State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, summoned Mongolia’s ambassador to
discuss the situation last week in Washington, and the U.S. Embassy in Ulan
Batoralso pressed the issue, according to the State Department.

By late last week,
President Elbegdorj indicated he was feeling the heat. He published a lengthy
discussion of his own democratic values on his official website, declaring his
commitment to justice and human rights, as well as eagerness to ensure Mr.
Enkhbayar would be treated humanely in a transparent legal process.

Around the same time, Mongolia’s antigraft agency detailed its allegations of Mr. Enkhbayar’s
corruption with a rare English-language statement posted to its website. The
country’s Supreme Court briefly intervened too, setting in motion
reconsideration of bail by a district court that weeks earlier had denied it.

“I am grateful that you pay attention to the
events happening in our country,” President Elbegdorj told the U.N.’s Mr. Ban
at the end of their call.

By James T.Areddy

The Wall Street Journal