Arrested Ernest Vardanian’s parents apply to RAU president

Within the campaign for support of journalist Ernest Vardanian, who was jailed in the regional capital of Tiraspol of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) on April 7, his parents have applied to president of the Armenian World Congress and Russian Armenians Union Mr Ara Abrahamian.

“We are writing the letter to the president of the Armenian World Congress, asking him:

1. to take actions to change the sentencing decision against Vardanian
2. to take actions to provide Ernest Vardanian with right to counsel
3. to take actions to provide an impartial investigation and open trial
4. to take actions to provide the implementation and using of the norms and standards of the European Convention on Human Rights.”

In their letter the Vardanians also reviewed n details the last developments in the arrest and trial against their son and wrote down some Ernest’s biography.

On April 7, a group of armed agents from PMR’s Ministry of State Security arrested Vardanian at his home in Tiraspol. His wife Irina Vardanian, who spoke to the press after her husband’s arrest, said the agents told her he was accused of committing treason against the PMR for Moldova. According to Article 271 of the internal penal code of the unrecognized republic, Vardanian faces from 12 to 20 years if convicted.

Ernest Vardanian was born in 1980 in Armenia’s town of Gyumri; his family moved to Moldavia Soviet Republic after the deadly Spitak Earthquake of 1988. Vardanian graduated from the Faculty of Political Science of the State University of Moldova; he speaks 5 languages; in 2005 he run for Supreme Council of the PMR, but his campaign failed. He is one of the founders of the Pridnesrovian Armenians Union and is a member of the organisation’s board.

He has two children-- a 6-year-old son and 9-month-old daughter. Irina Vardanian and Ernest’s parents were in custody of Ernest Vardanian. The Vardanians family has faced difficulties as their bank cards were blocked after Ernest’s arrest.