CHISINAU, August 6. /TASS/. Supporters of Evghenia Gutsul, leader of Moldova’s autonomous region of Gagauzia, are rallying in front of the pre-trial detention facility for the second consecutive day after the politician was sentenced to seven years in prison.
According to a TASS correspondent, several dozen people are taking part in the protest, holding banners and loudspeakers and chanting "Freedom."
"Such protests and rallies of support will be held across the country. We urge all responsible and conscious members of society to take note of the malpractices occurring in our country," Gutsul’s advisor Yury Kuznetsov said, addressing the demonstrators.
Gutsul was charged with financial irregularities related to the funding of the Shor opposition party. Party worker Svetlana Popan, another defendant in the case, has been sentenced to six years behind bars. Gutsul has also been stripped of the right to join political parties for the next five years and ordered to pay $2.4 million — the money investigators believe was spent on party funding.
The Gagauzian leader strongly rejects all of the prosecution’s claims, describing the case as politically motivated. She stated that Moldovan President Maia Sandu and the Party of Action and Solidarity, which controls the government and parliament, were behind the trial. Gutsul’s lawyers said they would appeal the verdict at a higher court.
Gutsul’s relations with the Moldovan leadership deteriorated in 2023 after she won the regional election, announced plans to boost friendly ties with Russia, and criticized Chisinau’s policy of confrontation with Moscow. The country's authorities tried to declare the election illegal, but Gagauzia’s parliament expressed solidarity with Gutsul, and several rallies in support of the region’s leader took place there. Still, Moldovan President Maia Sandu refused to sign a decree appointing Gutsul as a cabinet member, which is required by the country’s laws.