CHISINAU, February 26. /TASS/. Moldovan Gagauz autonomy’s head Evghenia Gutsul has turned down prosecutors’ proposal to resign in exchange for terminating he criminal case, her lawyer Natalia Bairan said.

"She rejected this deal. She had nothing to fear," she stressed.

Earlier, Gutsul told journalists that back in 2003, former chief anti-corruption prosecutor Veronika Daragalin and her deputy Vasily Plevan proposed in the presence of her lawyers to close the criminal case against her in exchange for her resignation. Apart from that, in her word, they wanted her to slander her fellow members of the Sor party by giving false testimony about their activities. In response, she stated that she was not afraid of unsubstantiated criminal cases, which she believed would be closed anyway.

Relations between Chisinau and Comrat became strained in 2023 after Evghenia Gutsul, an opposition politician, 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 recognize the election in Gagauzia invalid, but the Gagauz parliament sided with Gutsul. Apart from that, a series of grass-roots rallies were held in her support. However, Moldovan President Maia Sandu refused to sign a document approving Gutsul as a government member, which is required to be done under the country’s laws.

Gutsul was detained at Chisinau’s airport on March 25, 2025 and later was arrested as part of a criminal case related to the financing of her election campaign in 2023. Along with this, she was charged with illegally financing an opposition party. A verdict to Gutsul was pronounced on August 5, 2025. She was sentenced to seven years in prison.