Lieutenant Colonel A. Enkhbayar, deputy chairman of the Social Regulatory Department of the Sukhbaatar District Police Department, said the protestors were taken to the building because it was warm. But the protestors, some of whose clothes were torn in the incident, said it was a form of government intimidation.

“The hunger-strikers consider that by this measure the government is putting psychological pressure on us while using the police force against our protest,” said J. Khuvaa, a victim of the New Bolor Orgil and Globe Credit savings and credit union and a representative of the hunger strikers.

“We don’t understand that the government is using its power to stop us when the government is still not making a decision in terms of covering our losses.”

According to the hunger-strikers, the police arrived at Sukhbaatar Square with a van, pulled down their tent and then forced them into the vehicle, using two police to escort each protestor.

They were allegedly driven to the Construction and Development savings and credit union building and forcibly taken inside. The police stood guard outside the door for up to one hour and then left. The women then went back to Sukhbaatar Square, where they all cut off their hair.

“We are expressing that the government considers us to be like prisoners,” Khuvaa said.

Lt Col A. Enkhbayar denied that the police used any force on the protestors.

“The police realized the order of the Governor of Sukhbaatar District, but the police didn’t use force against the hunger-strikers,” he said. “We used coercive measures against them in the framework of the law”.

He said the police were simply doing their duty and looking after the protestors’ safety because of the potentially fatal effect their fasting could have had on their health and had taken them to the Construction and Development savings and credit union building to protect them from the cold.

However, both the police and the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs claim the women are not on a genuine hunger strike but are simply staging a sit-in.

When the protestors first announced their plans to stage a hunger strike, the police and Sukhbaatar District governor A. Amarsaikhan said they could sit in the square during the daytime but had to sleep in the Construction and Development savings and credit union building at night to protect them from the cold. However, the protestors didn’t agree with the request.