New cases of persecution by Transnistrian regime become known

Ilie Cazac, 24, is another victim of the separatist Transnistrian regime about whom the Moldovan press found out. In a news conference held at Info-Prim Neo on May 3, his parents said Ilie was kidnapped by representatives of the Transnistrian secret services on March 19, when he was returning from work, and the place where is is held is not known. Ilie Cazac has worked for less than a year as senior specialist at a division of the Tighina Tax Inspectorate. Ilie Cazac's parents, Stela Surkicean and Serghei Vinitskii, said they found out about the arrest of their son two days later as they were on a trip to Odessa. According to them, on the night of March 21, eight employees of the secret services dressed in civies bough Ilie Cazac in shackles home, where there was his younger brother Oleg Surkicean. They searches the house without drawing up a report. Ilie managed to tell his brother than it was a provocation and their mother should present herself at the prosecutor's office in Bender (Tighina). Afterward, the parents were phoned by lawyer Ianina Pirojkova, who was appointed to defend Ilie. She said their son was arrested for 'betraying the state” and is liable to 12 to 20 years in jail. The lawyer urged them to stay clam and not seek help as they will complicate the situation. “We do not know where our son is. When we saw that Ianina Pirojkova works against us, we hired another lawyer who hasn't had access to Ilie's case for two weeks and regrets accepting to defend Ilie,” said Stela Surkicean. Ilie Cazac's stepfather Sergey Vinitskii said the people in the Transnistrian region know their obligations, not yet their rights. He said he and his wife as well as their 15-year-old son Oleg Surkicean are persecuted. “We do not know what's expecting us home, in Bender, when we return from this conference. They will probably visit us and intimidate us further,” he said. In the hope that their son will be set free, Stela Surkicean and Serghei Vinitskii called on Moldova's Acting President Mihai Ghimpu, Prime Minister Vlad Filat and Russian President and Premier Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin to intervene in this case. According to the head of the association Promo-Lex Ion Manole, the Government of Moldova, the Russian authorities and other international organizations have been informed about this case. Ilie Cazac's case was sent to the European Court of Human Rights, but it is not yet known if it was accepted for examination. Ion Manole said the fact that the arrest was made by the Transnistrian secrets services is a serious violation as under the agreement of 1992 signed by Chisinau and Moscow, only representatives of the Moldovan police and Transnistrian militia have the right to be in Tighina town. A similar case happened on April 7, when Transnistrian secret services arrested the freelance journalist Ernest Vardanyan in Tiraspol. As Ilie Cazac, Vardanyan is accused of betraying the state and faces up to 20 years behind bars.