CHISINAU, May 12. /TASS/. The Chisinau District Court ruled to extend by 30 days the house arrest for Yevgenia Gutsul, the head of the autonomous region of Gagauzia in Moldova, who is under investigation for alleged election campaign financing violations.

"The motion to extend the house arrest of Yevgenia Gutsul is granted. The prosecution has requested to extend her house arrest by another 30 days starting from May 14," the judge said.

Her lawyer Sergey Moraru said he would appeal the decision.

"We will appeal this ruling within three days because we think is absolutely illegal. There are no grounds not only to extend the arrest but also to impose any preventive measure. The prosecution has once again failed to provide any evidence to back her staying under arrest," he said.

Prosecutor Adrian Scutaru believes that Gutsul may try to obstruct the investigation process or try to flee if set free. He said it was still "too early to say when" the prosecution will submit all case files to the court, adding that the process of collecting evidence was still under way and "some developments are hard to predict."

Gutsul was detained on March 25 at the Chisinau airport. She is facing two investigations. In one, she was charged with irregularities related to the financing of the 2023 election campaign. In the other, she was indicted for irregularities in the financing of the opposition party Sor, which was declared illegal by Moldova’s authorities and subsequently dissolved. She denied all charges, saying that her arrest was staged by the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity.

Relations between Chisinau and Comrat sharply deteriorated following Gutsul's 2023 election as head of Gagauzia. Gutsul, an opposition candidate, expressed her intent to strengthen the region’s friendly ties with Russia and criticized the pro-Western Moldovan government’s confrontational stance toward Moscow. Moldova’s authorities attempted to declare her election invalid, but the Gagauz parliament stood by Gutsul. Several mass protests supporting her were held in the region. President Maia Sandu refused to sign the decree officially appointing Gutsul to the Moldovan government, defying legal procedures.