Mongolia refuses aid for lawyer Sarah Armstrong
AUSTRALIAN diplomats have been blocked by Mongolian authorities from attending the questioning of stranded Australian lawyer Sarah Armstrong over bribery allegations against her Rio Tinto-owned employer.
Ms Armstrong, 32, was grilled for 4 1/2 hours by the Independent Authority Against Corruption in Ulan Bator on Friday.
The questioning related to her work as legal counsel for SouthGobi Resources -- her second interrogation since being stopped from boarding a plane to her home in Hong Kong on October 19. Her lawyer was also stopped from entering the room.
The investigation threatens to engulf the Canada-listed company, one of Mongolia's biggest coalminers.
The Australian understands that five licences obtained by the company are being investigated as part of wider corruption probe into former Mongolian mining authority chief D. Bakthuyag. There is at least one other Australian, former chief executive Alex Molyneaux, who could be drawn into the investigation. But he is understood to not be in Mongolia.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr's office yesterday confirmed that Australian diplomats, including Mongolian consul-general David Lawson, were told by the investigators that they could not attend the interview.
Following her questioning, Ms Armstrong told diplomats that she had been asked about her alleged involvement in the payment of bribes to Mongolian officials for SouthGobi to secure mining licences.
"The focus was very much on the corruption side of things," one source said.
The source said Ms Armstrong had to walk the investigators through the structure of the company and how the company's finances were managed.
She also asked them to show her any evidence of her alleged wrongdoing, but was told investigators did not need to provide such evidence to prohibit her from leaving Mongolia.
It is understood Ms Armstrong can sign off on certain company invoices as legal counsel but lacks the power to designate purchases or payments.
The allegations cover licences granted to SouthGobi before Rio Tinto took control of its parent company Turquoise Hill, the former Robert Friedland vehicle Ivanhoe.
Sources said Ms Armstrong, who grew up in rural Tasmania and has lived and worked in Hong Kong as a lawyer for the past four years, would likely be trapped in Mongolia for at least two months while the investigation continued.
Her mother, Yvonne Armstrong, told The Australian that the two did not speak until 24 hours after the interrogation began.
"That's probably been the most nervous I've been," she said. "I wasn't feeling easy."
Last night Senator Carr's spokesman said Australian officials waited outside until the interrogation was over.
"The Mongolians didn't want them in it, so they weren't able to go," he said.
Ms Armstrong was one of two executives from Rio Tinto's SouthGobi Resources coalmining group in Mongolia this month. Their colleagues elected to cancel or radically reduce travel to the country over widespread concern the country's recently elected coalition government would attempt to detain some of the company's senior management.
Ms Armstrong, 32, was grilled for 4 1/2 hours by the Independent Authority Against Corruption in Ulan Bator on Friday.
The questioning related to her work as legal counsel for SouthGobi Resources -- her second interrogation since being stopped from boarding a plane to her home in Hong Kong on October 19. Her lawyer was also stopped from entering the room.
The investigation threatens to engulf the Canada-listed company, one of Mongolia's biggest coalminers.
The Australian understands that five licences obtained by the company are being investigated as part of wider corruption probe into former Mongolian mining authority chief D. Bakthuyag. There is at least one other Australian, former chief executive Alex Molyneaux, who could be drawn into the investigation. But he is understood to not be in Mongolia.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr's office yesterday confirmed that Australian diplomats, including Mongolian consul-general David Lawson, were told by the investigators that they could not attend the interview.
Following her questioning, Ms Armstrong told diplomats that she had been asked about her alleged involvement in the payment of bribes to Mongolian officials for SouthGobi to secure mining licences.
"The focus was very much on the corruption side of things," one source said.
The source said Ms Armstrong had to walk the investigators through the structure of the company and how the company's finances were managed.
She also asked them to show her any evidence of her alleged wrongdoing, but was told investigators did not need to provide such evidence to prohibit her from leaving Mongolia.
It is understood Ms Armstrong can sign off on certain company invoices as legal counsel but lacks the power to designate purchases or payments.
The allegations cover licences granted to SouthGobi before Rio Tinto took control of its parent company Turquoise Hill, the former Robert Friedland vehicle Ivanhoe.
Sources said Ms Armstrong, who grew up in rural Tasmania and has lived and worked in Hong Kong as a lawyer for the past four years, would likely be trapped in Mongolia for at least two months while the investigation continued.
Her mother, Yvonne Armstrong, told The Australian that the two did not speak until 24 hours after the interrogation began.
"That's probably been the most nervous I've been," she said. "I wasn't feeling easy."
Last night Senator Carr's spokesman said Australian officials waited outside until the interrogation was over.
"The Mongolians didn't want them in it, so they weren't able to go," he said.
Ms Armstrong was one of two executives from Rio Tinto's SouthGobi Resources coalmining group in Mongolia this month. Their colleagues elected to cancel or radically reduce travel to the country over widespread concern the country's recently elected coalition government would attempt to detain some of the company's senior management.
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