Bat Khurts
Encyclopedia
Bat Khurts is the Head of the Executive Office of Mongolian National Security Council and the former head of Mongolia's Central Spy Agency.
. Upon landing he was arrested and put in Wandsworth Prison because of an European Arrest Warrant issued by German Authorities. Consequently, the Mongolian government accused the UK of luring Khurts to London to be arrested.
Khurts was imprisoned for allegedly arranging the kidnapping of Enkhbat Damiran, a Mongolian national who emmigrated to France, and sending him back to Mongolia where he was then tortured. It was alleged that around the 15th of May 2003, Damiran, who was seeking asylum in France at the time, was kidnapped by officers of the General Intelligence Agency of Mongolia
outside a restaurant in the French port of La Havre, smuggled across the French border to Brussels, and then to the Mongolian embassy in Berlin. He was briefly held at the embassy before he was drugged and boarded in a wheelchair onto a Mongolian MIAT
flight to Ulaanbaatar
on the 18th of May. His entry into Ulaanbaatar was not registered by the border police and he was taken to a secret location outside the capital. He was tortured, unsuccessfully, to confess to the brutal murder of the well-known politician Zorig Sanjaasürengiin
, a former Minister of Infrastructure and a potential future prime minister. On the 24th May, he was registered as a GIA informant and his entry into Mongolia was subsequently registered by the border police as the 25th of May. During his torture, it was alleged that Damiran was, among other things, forced to sit on a stool for hours, beaten on the liver with a pistol, and subjected to a mock execution.
The Mongolian government apologized earlier for the kidnapping to the French, German and Belgian governments.
Khurts arrest had led to tensions between the governments of Mongolia and the UK. The controversy has escalated to what has been called "diplomatic war". He was extradited to Germany in 2011 on charges of Verschleppung.
In September 2011, the charges of Verschleppung were dropped against Mr Khurts, 3 weeks ahead of a visit to Mongolia by German Chancellor Angela Merkel
, and he was released from prison and returned to Mongolia.
Arrest
In September 2010, Khurts traveled to LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Upon landing he was arrested and put in Wandsworth Prison because of an European Arrest Warrant issued by German Authorities. Consequently, the Mongolian government accused the UK of luring Khurts to London to be arrested.
Khurts was imprisoned for allegedly arranging the kidnapping of Enkhbat Damiran, a Mongolian national who emmigrated to France, and sending him back to Mongolia where he was then tortured. It was alleged that around the 15th of May 2003, Damiran, who was seeking asylum in France at the time, was kidnapped by officers of the General Intelligence Agency of Mongolia
General Intelligence Agency of Mongolia
General Intelligence Agency of Mongolia , Mongolian language: Тагнуулын ерөнхий газар. GIA is the intelligence agency of the Mongolian government, under the control of the Prime Minister of Mongolia. Its headquarters is in Ulaanbaatar...
outside a restaurant in the French port of La Havre, smuggled across the French border to Brussels, and then to the Mongolian embassy in Berlin. He was briefly held at the embassy before he was drugged and boarded in a wheelchair onto a Mongolian MIAT
MIAT Mongolian Airlines
MIAT Mongolian Airlines , Mongolian Civil Air Transport) is Mongolia's national airline, headquartered in the MIAT Building in Ulaanbataar, the capital...
flight to Ulaanbaatar
Ulaanbaatar
Ulan Bator or Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. An independent municipality, the city is not part of any province, and its population as of 2008 is over one million....
on the 18th of May. His entry into Ulaanbaatar was not registered by the border police and he was taken to a secret location outside the capital. He was tortured, unsuccessfully, to confess to the brutal murder of the well-known politician Zorig Sanjaasürengiin
Sanjaasürengiin Zorig
Zorig Sanjaasuren was a prominent Mongolian politician and leader of the country's 1990 democratic revolution. He was called the "Golden Magpie of Democracy". His murder remains unsolved...
, a former Minister of Infrastructure and a potential future prime minister. On the 24th May, he was registered as a GIA informant and his entry into Mongolia was subsequently registered by the border police as the 25th of May. During his torture, it was alleged that Damiran was, among other things, forced to sit on a stool for hours, beaten on the liver with a pistol, and subjected to a mock execution.
The Mongolian government apologized earlier for the kidnapping to the French, German and Belgian governments.
Khurts arrest had led to tensions between the governments of Mongolia and the UK. The controversy has escalated to what has been called "diplomatic war". He was extradited to Germany in 2011 on charges of Verschleppung.
In September 2011, the charges of Verschleppung were dropped against Mr Khurts, 3 weeks ahead of a visit to Mongolia by German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
, and he was released from prison and returned to Mongolia.