CHISINAU, June 6. /TASS/. Head of Moldova’s Gagauz Autonomy Evghenia Gutsul is now involved in legal proceedings in Chisinau under a criminal case related to the funding of her election campaign in 2023; she believes, however, that the charges stem solely from the fact that she leads the autonomy, she told TASS after a court session.
"I will say it again. No matter what the pro-government media outlets say, I am tried today because I am Gagauzia's head. Svetlana Popan (an activist of the opposition Victory bloc, also involved in the case - TASS) was put in the dock next to me just for company," she said after a court session.
"We understand that this is just an order from [Moldovan President Maia] Sandu, to present an ostentatious trial of the Sor party's central apparatus, showing that law enforcement agencies and the judicial system perform their duties well. No, they do not," Gutsul said in response to a TASS question.
"The judge's bias against us is obvious. This is a politically driven case. <...> Before I met with [Russian President] Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, they never mentioned me or this criminal case. Only once, after winning the election of the Gagauz head, [Veronica] Dragalin (who headed the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office at the time - TASS) offered me a deal to give up my mandate in exchange for the abolition of the criminal case," Gutsul shared.
"All these pro-government media outlets that were present [at the meetings] distorted information, misleading the public," she added.
"As of today, me and Svetlana Popan have been stripped of the right to defense. The court displayed a biased attitude. Prosecutors and their witnesses had more powers and rights than us," she went on to say.
"The absurdity of this case goes beyond all limits. Some of my former colleagues gave testimony, saying what the prosecutor gave them in exchange for revoking their status as suspects. <...> They made a deal with the Prosecutor's Office and gave testimony - this is what the prosecutor wanted," she stated, adding that the prosecution's evidence was "founded on gossip."
"Today, the court session is concluding, as well as the collection of evidence - we are moving on to the debate. Just for you to understand: at the end of the last court session, when the judge was already out, the prosecutor presented us with updated indictments. We haven't even familiarized ourselves with them. We still have questions: the figures have been changed - where did they come from? Nobody explains anything to us," she continued.
"Gutsul has no presumption of innocence. Gutsul is always made a criminal; let's write down that Gutsul was carrying 42 million. I did not bring a single lei, a single ban, a single cent to the Republic of Moldova. Neither in 2019, nor in 2021 or 2022. The charges that I am incriminated in the criminal case allegedly took place in late 2021 and 2022, when I was on maternity leave," she clarified.
Meanwhile, Gutsul's defense announced that it will demand the recusal of the judge, whom it accuses of bias.
"We are entitled to speak out on this, but we are not allowed to. Therefore, I apologize, but I will demand your recusal," her lawyer Sergey Moraru said, commenting on the court's rejection of the defense's motion to conduct a financial expertise of the charges and appeal to the Constitutional Court.
Gutsul was detained at Chisinau Airport on March 25 under another criminal case related to the funding of her election campaign in 2023. The arrest was explained by fears that she could flee justice. Gutsul, however, rejects this, cooperates fully with the investigation and attends all court sessions. She insists that her arrest was orchestrated by the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity. Last year, she was sanctioned by the European Union and the United States.
Gutsul’s relations with the Moldovan leadership became strained in 2023 after she won elections in the autonomy and proclaimed a course toward closer relations with Russia, criticizing Chisinau’s policy of confrontation with Moscow. Moldovan authorities tried to declare the election in Gagauzia invalid, but the Gagauz parliament sided with Gutsul. Apart from that, a series of grassroots rallies were held in her support. However, Sandu refused to sign a document approving Gutsul as a government member, which is required to be done under the country’s laws.