Less than a month before the Mongolian general election, one of the candidates has found himself behind bars pending trial – two days after next month’s election. Earlier today (28 May), the young candidate N.Nomtoibayar was sent to the 461^st Detention Centre under a decision by the Primary Criminal Court of the Bayanzurkh, Sukhbaatar and Chingeltei Districts of the Mongolian capital. Previously, N.Nomtoibayar has been banned from leaving the country. According to the judges, and prosecutors providing evidence, N.Nomtoibayar stands  accused of intimidating an investigator. However, the young politician’s lawyer said that N.Nomtoibayar stands falsely accused; he was only talking with the investigator by phone. Furthermore, the judges themselves broke the law for detaining a candidate without reporting it to the General Election Commission.

N.Nomtoibayar received his candidate certificate from the GEC on 22 May to run for the Khan-Uul District of Ulaanbaatar. His trial has been scheduled on 26 June.

Mongolia will hold its parliamentary election on 24 June.