CHISINAU, September 4. /TASS/. The Chisinau Court of Appeals will hear Gagauzia head Evghenia Gutsul’s appeal to drop the charges against her on October 8. According to the unified portal of judicial instances, the verdict on election financing impropriety will be considered by judge Vitaly Budech.
Gutsul’s lawyer Sergey Morar told TASS that numerous violations were committed during the trial. According to him, the right to defense was violated at all stages. The judge refused to question more than 200 defense witnesses, while none of the prosecution's were rejected. A number of requests for financial and other expert examinations that could have provided more accurate information in the case were also rejected. According to Morar, these and other violations make it look like the court had it out for Gutsul.
On August 5, a court in Chisinau sentenced Gutsul to seven years in prison to be served immediately in a case of financing the banned Shor party. Gutsul called the verdict "a political hit job ordered from above" and said she would fight for her name and the truth. She accused Moldovan President Maia Sandu of using repression as a tool to fight dissent. Svetlana Popan, an activist of the Victory bloc, was sentenced to six years in the same case.
Relations between the head of Gagauzia and the Moldovan leadership worsened in 2023 after her victory in the autonomy elections and statements about her intention to strengthen friendly relations between the region and Russia, as well as criticism of Chisinau's policy of confrontation with Moscow. The authorities of the republic tried to declare the elections illegal, but the parliament of Gagauzia supported Gutsul, and several mass actions were held in the region in support of the leader. Sandu refused to sign a decree approving Gutsul as a government member, although this is required by legislation.