The family of a WA mining executive being held in a Mongolian detention centre after he was sentenced to 11 years jail say his health is deteriorating and they fear for his life.

Mo Munshi, a dual Australian and UK citizen, has been banned from leaving Mongolia since March 2015 and has not seen his family for two-and-a-half years.

In June, the 57-year-old was placed in a detention centre in Ulaanbaatar, where he is unable to speak to his family, sleeps on a wooden bench and is fed two meals a day.

He is only permitted to shower once every 21 days and for nearly three months was not allowed to shave, get a haircut or trim his nails.

His family is too afraid to travel to Mongolia to visit him after they were threatened with kidnap. They are only able to communicate with him through lawyers.

They increasingly fear the approaching Mongolian winter — which will see temperatures plunge to -30C — will take further toll on his failing health.

Holding back tears, daughter Minah explained: “I have grave concerns that he won’t ever see my children again because he won’t survive.”

His son, Arif, added: “It’s nightmare, that’s the only word I can use to describe it.

“We’re not allowed any contact with him, there’s no phone, there’s no Skype, no email. We can’t talk to him directly, so it’s been really hard for all of us.

“His elderly parents who are also living here in Perth are in their 80s. They are very distressed at this situation. They are facing the prospect of perhaps never seeing their son again.”

Mr Munshi is a geologist and founder of Gobi Coal and Energy, which owns two mines in western Mongolia. He has worked FIFO across WA for companies, while his children are former pupils at Christ Church Grammar and PLC.

His family say he was lured to the Central Asia nation in 2015 by a notorious businessman who he believed would introduce him to potential investors.

They are pleading for the Australian and British governments to lobby authorities in Mongolia to secure his release and fear that if his appeal fails, he will be moved to a remote closed prison.

“Given our father’s very serious health issues, and the Mongolian prison conditions, we now urge the Government to help bring our dad home,” Minah said.

“He’s 57, he’s got a bulging disc in his back and severe varicose veins which need surgery and the correct medication.”

Mr Munshi’s Perth lawyers, Alisdair Putt and Jessica Edis, travelled to Mongolia this week.

“He is clearly a long way from home, isolated, unwell and facing the Mongolian winter in basic prison conditions,” Mr Putt said.

In July, he was given a two-day trial over what his lawyers say is a commercial or civil, not criminal matter to do with mining interests he has in Mongolia. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $US25 million to the complainant.

Mr Munshi’s company was audited by PWC and KPMG who could find no evidence of any wrongdoing.

He was first arrested on March 10, 2015, by plain-clothes police at an airport in Mongolia.

His passports were taken and he was detained until midnight, then released. Several months later, Mr Munshi’s passports returned but he was subjected to a travel ban and not allowed to leave the country.

His family said he was invited to Mongolia to meet potential investors by a businessman who had been recommended to him by a senior Mongolian political figure. But they claim the man’s aim was to extract money and property from their father.

“As we understand it, this isn’t the first time that they’ve been involved in an extortion case like this because that’s effectively what this case is,” Minah said.

In a letter to the family, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the legal aspects of the case were a matter for Mr Munshi and his lawyers, but that his case was being raised at all appropriate opportunities with Mongolian authorities.

In a letter dated August 17, 2017, Ms Bishop said Mr Munshi’s welfare was a “first priority” and that Australian consular support will continue for as long as required.

Published Date:2017-09-24