Ernest Vardanyan must be released, say PACE MPs

A group of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) MPs has expressed concerns about the fate of prisoners in the self-declared republic of Transnistria, reports local Transnistrian news website Dniester.ru.

Out of 318 MPs in the PACE 30 have signed a statement in which they are setting alarm that Transnistria may become what they call a “black cavity” in the sphere of human rights.

Among human rights violations in Transnistria the PACE MPs point to the arrest of the Armenian national journalist Ernest Vardanyan and Ilya Kazak.

Both are accused of high treason and face from12-20 years in prison if found guilty.

Further the signatories call for the release of those illegally arrested and kept under detention.

Ernest Vardanyan was arrested near his home in Tiraspol on April 7. In an attempted to have attention focused on his son’s arrest Tamara Shaghoyan has sent many letters to the leaders of several world powers, such as Russia, US, France, Germany, Great Britain and Japan – but yet to little avail.