Moldova demands Ernest Vardanyan's release

Moldovan authorities have demanded the release of Ernest Vardanyan, a Transdnestrian journalist of Armenian origin jailed in Transdnestria for allegedly spying for Moldova.

At a meeting with Transdnestria's Foreign Minister Vladimir Yastrebchak at the US embassy in Chisinau, Moldova's Deputy Prime Minister on reintegration issues Viktor Osipov said that Chisinau demands the Transdnestrian authorities to release Vardanyan.

According to the news website RBK, Osipov also said that Ernest Vardanyan is innocent and that the "only right thing to do would be to immediately release him."

Further, the two diplomats agreed on continuing the dialogue in an attempt to seek possible ways to settle the dispute, the source added.

Ernest Vardanyan was arrested by Transdnestrian security forces on April 7 this year on charges of espionage.

On December 16, the Transdnestrian Supreme Court sentenced Ernest Vardanyan to 15 years in prison.

Earlier, in a televised video address Vardanyan had confessed to the crime. He admitted he had been recruited by the Moldavian Security and Information Service (SIS) while studying at Chisinau State University in 2001.

He also said that SIS officials had insinuated that he and his wife would face problems with their continued studies in Moldova should he refuse to cooperate.

"I agreed to cooperate with SIS and now I realize I made a big mistake," Vardanyan said, adding that he kept on spying for Moldova after graduating from university and finding work as a journalist in his homeland.

He gathered information on Transdnestrian domestic policy, and personally met with top officials.

However, after getting a job at the UN secretariat in 2009, Vardanyan attempted to put an end to his spying career.

"When I told my recruiter Nikolai Botezatu about my forthcoming work at the UN, he said we would not end our cooperation," the
journalist said adding that after arriving in New York he continued spying on other countries, especially Russia.

Later, Vardanyan said he was forced to make the confession.