A British-Australian citizen jailed for 11 years in Mongolia over a soured mining deal has taken his case to the United Nations human rights council claiming he was denied a fair trial.

After a trial in July that lasted just two days, Mohammed Ibrahim “Mo” Munshi was jailed for 11 years and fined USD 15m over a coal deal struck between Gobi Coal and Energy, of which he was chairman, and a company owned by Chuluunbataar Baz, a member of a prominent Mongolian family.

A complaint lodged with the UN human rights council – of which both the UK and Australia are members – alleges there were gross irregularities during his trial.

Munshi’s dispute arose after Baz’s company, Monnis International, invested USD 10m in Gobi Coal’s proposed mining projects in the south-west of the country.

But when the global coal price collapsed in 2012, a proposed initial public offering was postponed, with the projects put on hold until global prices recovered. Other investors acceded to ride out the price dip, but Baz reportedly demanded his money back.

Attempts at arbitration failed, and when Munshi visited Mongolia in 2015 he was hit with a travel ban and his passports were confiscated. The dispute dragged on until mid-2017, when Munshi was arrested, convicted in a two-day trial and jailed. Gobi Coal’s license over coal deposits was also suspended. (the Guardian).