The State Supreme Court (SSC) was scheduled to hear the appeals of former Anti-Corruption Authority (ACA) chief Ch.Sangaragchaa and two other ACA officials on October 19, but the hearing was cancelled because Ch.Sangaragchaa’s lawyers failed to attend. One of the lawyers, G.Oyuntsetseg, was said to be ill. The other, B.Khishigbaatar, was also absent.

Lawyers for the two other former ACA officials, D.Sunduisuren and U.Altangadas, were present.

Our correspondent spoke about the hearing with Yo.Sagsai, the head of the investigative department of the Prosecutor’s Office.

Q: Lawyers for the ACA officials would like to see their clients’ sentences reduced. Is that possible?

A: The SSC will decide the matter according to the evidence and lower court rulings. Their lawyers have already made the same request in lower courts.

Q: Ch.Sangaragchaa is working as a bookkeeper in a youth detention center in Zaisan. Some people say he is not being detained. Does the Prosecutor’s Office track how sentences are carried out?

A: Prisoners can work in a normal prison. Ch.Sangaragchaa is being detained in the Zaisan youth detention center, and the General Office for Enforcing Court Decisions decides which facilities prisoners should be sent to.

Q: Former ACA deputy chief D.Sunduisuren says he will file a complaint about his case with an international human rights organization. Will his complaint have any influence on the court’s decision?

A: No, it will not have any influence.