Ilie Cazac will not ask to be pardoned because he is not guilty, said the young man’s mother Stela Surchicean. The woman was contacted by Info-Prim Neo after the announcement that journalist Ernest Vardanyan, who was convicted on the same charges, was pardoned. “I’m sure that Ernest Vardanyan is neither guilty, but he has small children. Maybe he was scared or they told him something and he asked being pardoned. But our son cannot give up now and seek pardoning,” said Stela Surchicean. The young man’s mother said Ilie is demoralized and considers it is not right to be pardoned only after you accept you did something that you did not do. However, the parents are hopeful that their son will be soon free and are very glad for the Vardanyan family. Ilie Cazac, a former employee of the Bender Tax Inspectorate, was arrested last March. On February 9 this year, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for state treason and espionage for Moldova. Several months earlier, in December 2010, journalist Ernest Vardanyan was sentenced to 15 years in jail on the same charges.