Urgent UN appeal for Vadim Pogorletchi’s release from illegal detention in Tiraspol
The Promo-LEX Association submitted an urgent appeal to three United Nations (UN) special rapporteurs, highlighting the critical situation of Vadim Pogorletchi, a journalist and human rights defender who has been illegally detained in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova since August 2022.
Promo-LEX signals that, for over three years, Vadim Pogorletchi has been detained in inhuman and degrading conditions, subjected to torture and total isolation, and was recently sentenced to 16 years in prison on fabricated charges of "high treason" and "denial of the positive role of Russian peacekeeping forces".
Vadim Pogorletchi, the second illegal detention on the left bank of the Nistru
The appeal is addressed to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture, the Situation of Human Rights Defenders and Freedom of Expression and formulates a request for immediate international intervention to obtain the unconditional release of Vadim Pogorletchi and to put an end to the systematic persecution of critical voices in the region, reads a press release from the association.
The rapporteurs are requested to publicly condemn the illegal actions of the Tiraspol structures and to send strong appeals to the Russian Federation to use its decisive influence to obtain the immediate release of Vadim Pogorletchi.
Known for his constant criticism of the illegitimate structures in Tiraspol and for exposing human rights violations, Vadim Pogorletchi is a constant target of repression, Promo-LEX emphasizes. His current detention, the second in a row, is a direct revenge for his public statements in which he described the inhuman conditions in the penitentiaries on the left bank of the Nistru.
Detained on August 25, 2022, the journalist was initially sentenced to 7 days of "administrative arrest" for photographing a military unit. Later, the charges were reclassified to "high treason", and the case was classified.
For over three years, he was detained in inhumane conditions, being subjected to a regime of total isolation. He was repeatedly placed in disciplinary isolation, being deprived of access to drinking water, adequate food and qualified medical assistance. During his detention, his mother died, and he was not allowed to attend the funeral, he learned the news late, from his lawyer, Promo-LEX lawyers mention.
According to the association, the way Vadim Pogorletchi is being treated violates all international human rights norms and constitutes torture and inhuman and degrading treatment.
Chisinau, new approach to Tiraspol for Pogorletchi's release
His release was one of the conditions imposed by the constitutional authorities in Chisinau in exchange for the continuation of gas transit to the Transnistrian region, in February 2025. Although several detainees were then released by the separatist regime in Tiraspol, Vadim Pogorletchi remains in detention.
Promo-LEX signals that, despite multiple approaches and petitions addressed to the Presidency, the Government and the Prosecutor General's Office, the authorities in Chisinau have remained passive, without providing an official response or taking concrete actions to ensure compliance with the assumed conditionality.
On the other hand, the Bureau for Reintegration Policies (BPR) recently assured that this case was in the "constant sight" of the authorities of the Republic of Moldova and promised to renew the approaches to Tiraspol and relevant external partners regarding the release of Vadim Pogorletchi.
BPR specified that it had repeatedly requested the political representative in the negotiation process for the Transnistrian settlement in Tiraspol to release Vadim Pogorletchi without delay and unconditionally, to clarify the circumstances that were the basis of the abusive and illegal actions to which he was subjected, to not admit the application of inhuman or degrading treatment to him, as well as to provide him with appropriate medical assistance.
"In parallel, international mediators and observers in the negotiation process on the Transnistrian settlement, as well as the international partners of the Republic of Moldova, were sensitized with the call to make the necessary efforts for the unconditional release and restoration of the violated rights of our citizen. At the request of Chisinau, the OSCE maintains a priority focus on this case and tries to contribute to achieving a positive solution. The national law enforcement bodies ordered the necessary legal measures to be taken", BPR recently reported.
