28 Mar, 18:06

IN BRIEF: What we know about detention of Gagauzia’s head Evghenia Gutsul

On March 25, Evghenia Gutsul was detained at the Chisinau Airport

Gagauzia Head Evghenia Gutsul Veniamin Demidetsky/TASS

Gagauzia Head Evghenia Gutsul

© Veniamin Demidetsky/TASS

CHISINAU, March 28. /TASS/. A court in Moldova sanctioned an arrest of Evghenia Gutsul. the head of Moldova’s autonomous region of Gagauzia, on suspicion of violating financial management regulations of the election fund during the autonomy’s election in 2023.

TASS has compiled the key points of the situation.

Detention and arrest

- On March 25, Gutsul was detained at the Chisinau Airport. She was bound to Turkey’s Istanbul at the invitation of the journalistic association.

- The Moldovan Prosecutor General’s Office announced that Gutsul was banned from leaving the country.

- The National Anti-Corruption Center (NCCC) of Moldova tried to seize documents from the Executive Committee of Gagauzia without presenting a decree on their seizure, Viktor Petrov, vice chairman of the executive committee of the autonomy, told TASS.

Charges

- Moldova's Prosecutor General’s Office accuses Gutsul of violations of the financial management procedure of the electoral fund in the elections in the autonomy in 2023.

- According to a document, provided by the Chisinau court she is accused of allegedly organizing the forgery of several documents containing false information about monetary donations made by individuals during her election campaign

Kremlin

- Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "The authorities of Moldova are persecuting any political opponents who advocate for building the country’s relations with Russia."

- "All political forces advocating for the development of relations between Moldova and Russia are now in fact subjected to unlawful persecution."

Evghenia 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.

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