WASHINGTON INTERESTED IN ARREST OF ARMENIAN JOURNALIST IN TRANSDNIESTRIA
Tert.am
15.04.10
No detail on the arrest of Armenian national journalist Ernest
Vardanyan in Transdniestria will be publicized till the end of the
investigation, the President of the Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic
Igor Smirnov said at a meeting with US Ambassador to Moldova Asif
Chaudhry in Tiraspol, quoted by the Regnum news agency.
In response to the American diplomat’s question why Vardanyan was
arrested, Smirnov has reportedly said that he had violated the
Transdniestrian law.
Vardanyan was arrested by Transdniestrian state security services on
April 7 on high treason charges. According to the local law he can
face 12-20 years in prison for high treason.
Moldovan authorities are also interested in Vardanyan’s release and
have called on Transdniestrian authorities to set him free.
Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Osipova was reported saying that
"such trick by the political police may add tension in the region,"
adding that Vardanyan’s arrest make his case an unprecedented one
which can kick up wide international response.
Vardanyan is well-known in Moldova as an independent journalist whose
articles and commentaries are often critical of officials in both
Chisinau and Tiraspol.