On 7 April, a group of armed agents from PMR's Ministry of State Security arrested Vardanean in front of his home in Tiraspol and has been accused of working for the Moldovan intelligence in Chişinău.
[5][2] On 21 April 2010, the European Union Heads of Mission in Chişinău expressed their deep concern that the journalist Ernest Vardanean, who was arrested by the Transnistrian security forces, had been denied basic human rights.
[6] Oliver Vujović, the Secretary General of the South East Europe Media Organisation, said: "The accusations against Vardanian of high treason due to critical reporting are unacceptable... SEEMO urges the Ministry of Security in Tiraspol to withdraw the charges and the prison sentence.
[8] "I am asking the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the EU Head of Delegation to Moldova to act urgently for the immediate release of the detained journalist" said Traian Ungureanu in the European Parliament on 19 May 2010.
I am calling for the immediate, unconditional release of the journalist Ernest Vardanian, and I urge the authorities in the self-proclaimed Republic of Transnistria to make a move towards Chişinău to resolve the conflict there.
"[citation needed] Ernest Vardanean and Ilie Cazac were visited on 4 August 2010 in jail by the head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's mission to Moldova, Philip Remmler.