Good news: Missing Mongolian activist is freed

Word came through overnight that Mongolian human rights activist Jaranbayar Soyolt has been released from detention and has returned home.

The 48-year-old hadn't been seen since or heard from for five months and we feared he was at risk of torture or ill-treatment.

He was last seen by two business colleagues at Beijing Capital International Airport on 6 January this year. He was handcuffed and surrounded by five policemen, and he told his colleagues he had been arrested.

There's no news on any of the wires about his release – and either the Free Soyolt Alliance nor the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center have anything on their websites. For background on the case check out the blog we ran earlier this month.

Jaranbayar Soyolt has been a human rights advocate for decades. Authorities have labelled him a Mongolian separatist and have claimed that he is plotting to overthrow China's ruling communist party.

UPDATE

added 27 June

Amnesty International has learnt a bit more about exactly what happened to Jaranbayar Soyolt after he was detained at the airport in Beijing.

Two days after he was detained he was transferred to a detention centre in Inner Mongolia. He was interrogated by the Chinese authorities about his alleged involvement in "overseas activities harmful to China’s security", but he was not tortured or ill-treated.

Jaranbayar Soyolt, who is now home in Ulaanbaatar, and Amnesty International want to deeply thank everyone who sent appeals to authorities on his behalf.