Reporter, collaborating with Irina Tabaranu, the editor of Transnistria-focused website Zona De Securitate, and openDemocracy, the UK-based news outlet, have exclusively revealed a call by influential sanctions campaigner Bill Browder to impose penalties on the regime in Transnistria over its treatment of pro-Ukraine dissident Victor Pleșcanov.

Pleșcanov, whose case Reporter and Zona de Securitate have covered extensively, continues to be illegally imprisoned on unknown charges following his expressions of support for the Ukrainian people in the face of the Russian invasion and attempted genocide.

Transnistria is an occupied territory of Moldova where the Russian army and a Russia-controlled regime have been in charge since 1992. The enclave does not have international recognition. As described in the latest story on openDemocracy, the human rights situation there has been deteriorating since the invasion, with Pleșcanov as the most prominent but far from singular example.

Browder, a former financier and investor in Russia, is known as Vladimir Putin’s “number one enemy” and has successfully campaigned for global sanctions against Russian officials, oligarchs and their henchmen, for human rights abuses and corruption.

Browder’s colleague, Segei Magnitsky, was killed in Russian prison in 2009 after he exposed a state-enabled fraud against some of Browder’s financial businesses. Multiple jurisdictions around the world have since named their sanctions regimes after Magnitsky, thanks to Browder’s efforts.

Speaking exclusively to Reporter, Browder said Pleșcanov was a “hero” for daring to openly show support for Ukraine in a place under Russian de facto control, and added that those responsible for his imprisonment should face sanctions.

Click here to read the full story on openDemocracy.