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27 Mar, 10:10

Gagauz leader says she was offered to exchange criminal prosecution for resignation

Yevgenia Gutsul was detained on March 25 at Chisinau airport, despite having traveled to Russia, Turkey, and other countries for business trips on multiple occasions before

CHISINAU, March 27. /TASS/. The head of the Gagauz autonomy, Yevgenia Gutsul, who was detained in Chisinau, has stated that she was offered a bargain: resigning from her position as the region's leader in exchange for the cessation of criminal prosecution.

"Now that I am behind bars on fabricated charges, I have been repeatedly offered a halt to my criminal prosecution in exchange for relinquishing my post and leaving the country immediately," Gutsul said in an appeal to the residents of the autonomy, conveyed through her lawyers.

Gutsul was detained on March 25 at Chisinau airport, despite having traveled to Russia, Turkey, and other countries for business trips on multiple occasions before. The following day, the Moldovan National Anti-Corruption Center announced that prosecutors would charge her and seek the court's approval for her arrest as a preventive measure. The Moldovan authorities are attempting to accuse Gutsul of involvement in financial irregularities related to the Gagauz elections, which they claim were orchestrated by the opposition Sor party. Gutsul has dismissed these accusations as baseless, asserting that Moldovan President Maia Sandu is behind them.