Vardanyan’s mother asks Smirnov to release her son

Tamara Shagoian, the mother of journalist Ernest Vardanyan, Friday had a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Victor Osipov. She told Osipov that she found out about the conviction of her son from his lawyer Dmitri Dimitrov on December 16 in the evening and that she sent a letter to the Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov, whereby she asks that her son be set free, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a communiqué, the Reintegration Office says that the Deputy Prime Minister condemned the actions of the Transnistrian authorities and assured that the Moldovan authorities will continue to make effort to release Ernest Vardanyan as well as Ilie Cazac. On Friday morning, Victor Osipov called a meeting centering on Ernest Vardanyan’s conviction. It was attended by representatives of the Joint Control Commission, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, the Ministry of the Interior, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Security and Information Service, and of the Presidential Office. Journalist Ernest Vardanyan was sentenced to 15 years in jail for treason and espionage for Moldova by a Transnistrian court on December 16. He will be held in a maximum-security prison. The journalist’s lawyer from Chisinau Alexandru Postica has told Info-Prim Neo that a call will be made to international organizations to hasten the examination of his case at the European Court of Human Rights.