MOSCOW: The trial of Gagauz autonomy’s head Evghenia Gutsul will determine Moldova’s future for years to come, Russian Foreign Ministry Spo...
MOSCOW: The trial of Gagauz autonomy’s head Evghenia Gutsul will determine Moldova’s future for years to come, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"No doubt that this trial will to a larger extent determine Moldova’s future for years to come. Hopefully, common sense will win out in Chisinau and the Moldovan government will get back to observing the law, regardless of the current regime’s political goals. Because the independent and unbiased judicial system is the guarantee of the state’s normal functioning," she said.
According to the Russian diplomat, Sandu’s policy of the crackdown on the opposition only toughens as the parliamentary elections scheduled for September 28 are getting closer. "This is being done under the pretext of repelling the invented ‘Russian propaganda.’ And the trial of the legitimately elected Gagauz head, Evghenia Gutsul, who has been under the house arrest since April 9, is in the center of this political farce and outrage," Zakharova noted.
"Moldovan experts slam this trial as a "demonstrative political lynching" and an attempt to intimidate all those who disagree with the Chisinau regime," she noted. "There have been reports that the current Moldovan authorities are exerting pressure on judges involved in Gutsul’s trial. Sandu doesn’t hesitate to openly clamp down on dissidence and infringe upon fundamental human rights and freedoms."
"We are witnessing the Sandu regime and its Western sponsors’ continuing to shake the situation inside the country already having turned it unstable, whereas international structures are in no hurry to react to the crackdown on dissidence in Moldova," she said. "It looks like the West is okay with the infringement on the fundamental democratic norms and principles, which has become a characteristic feature of the Sandu regime."
Gutsul’s case
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 recognized 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 and later was arrested as part of a criminal case related to the financing of her election campaign in 2023. Along with this, court hearings have been proceeding since 2024 on another case where Gutsul is charged with illegally financing an opposition party. However, she categorically rejects these charges, saying that the case is politically motivated.
A verdict to Gutsul will be pronounced on August 5. If she is sentenced to a prison term, Moldova’s authorities may initiate new election of Gagauzia’s head.
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