Moldovan deputy premier seeks foreign partners support to release journalist sentenced in Transnistria
Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Victor Osipov has called on the foreign partners involved in the Transnistrian conflict settlement process to enhance efforts so as to release Ilie Cazac and Ernest Vardanean. On 16 December, Vardanean was sentenced in Tiraspol, and the Moldovan government described this fact as illegal, the Bureau for Reintegration has recalled.
Official letters to this effect were sent to the diplomats representing Russia, Ukraine, the United States, the European Union and the OSCE, as well as Kazakhstan, which chairs the OSCE in 2010. A similar message was sent to the special representative of the Council of Europe, as this organization plays an important role in the protection of human rights in Europe.
The appeal says that the Transnistrian unconstitutional authorities sentenced a journalist to 15 years of imprisonment in a maximum security penal colony
on charges of " high treason and espionage in favour of Moldova." The sentence is described as "glaring violation of the fundamental human rights and freedoms, as well as an attempt to intimidate civil society, including the independent journalists from the region."
Pointing out the absurd character of the charge and the large-scale echo triggered by the sentence of the journalist, Deputy Prime Minister Victor Osipov asked for the support of the concerned countries and bodies, so that Ernest Vardanean should be released and benefit from access to fair justice.
Moldpres
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