Transnistrian journalist Sergei Ilchenko has been held in a jail in Transnistria for over a month, being suspected of extremism. His son Nicolae Ilchenko says his father is accused unjustly, the case being fabricated by Transnistria’s KGB. According to him, his father is held in very bad conditions and his access to the necessary drugs is restricted.
In a news conference at IPN, Nicolae Ilchenko said the KGB employees assert that his father published extremist calls on portals that are not well known in the region. The KGB insists that the announcements were published from Nicolae’s IP address, but it is his father who was arrested. This is inexplicable as he does not live with his parents.
After Sergei and Nicolae Ilchenko took part in a protest in Transnistrian, KGB-ists came to Sergei’s home and told him to present particular materials, but he refused. “My father published information about the visit by the KGB-ists and then wrote a number of critical articles. But he didn’t write the article because of which he was arrested. My father has criticized the totalitarian regime in the region for 20 years, but insists that the conflict should be resolved peacefully. The calls from the article presented as evidence do not correspond to his views,” stated Nicolae Ilchenko.
The journalist’s relatives said they cannot see him. His son can communicate with his father only through the notes he transmits to him through the Transnistrian lawyer, who is also pressed by the KGB. “There was launched a whole campaign against my father and against “Promo-LEX” Association that offered its help. My father has asthma and chronic bronchitis, but they do not allow us to transmit drugs to him. He is held in inhuman conditions, in a very small room, together with another 11 persons,” said Nicolae Ilchenko.
The young man requested the Prosecutor General’s Office of Moldova to intervene because his father is a Moldovan citizen who was practically kidnapped and is held in inhuman conditions. He also called on the participants in the Transnistrian conflict settlement talks to ensure an independent analysis of the article owing to which his father was arrested.
“Promo-LEX” Association lawyer Vadim Vieru, one of the lawyers for Sergei Ilchenko, told the same news conference that a complaint was also submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office of Russia because the last ECHR decisions show that this state is responsible for what is going on in the region, but all in vain. The Prosecutor General’s Office of Moldova hasn’t yet provided an official answer. The OSCE Mission was also informed, but it didn’t react. The Embassy of Russia answered that only Moldova is responsible for the cases that happen on its territory. The Reintegration Office reacted promptly and made an approach to the political representative of Tiraspol, asking that the journalist should be released. It yet received an answer suggesting that the Government should not become involved in this case. The Embassy of the U.S. and the Embassy of Ukraine said they attentively monitor the situation.
Vadim Vieru noted that he is now preparing the application against Moldova and Russia that will be submitted to the ECHR.
