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Gagauzian leader decries house arrest as 'political persecution', vows to fight

Earlier in the day, the Chisinau District Court ruled to extend Gutsul's house arrest by 30 days

CHISINAU, May 12. /TASS/. Yevgenia Gutsul, the head of the autonomous region of Gagauzia in Moldova, who is under investigation for alleged election campaign financing violations, says she will keep fighting for herself and her people.

"This is political persecution and an attempt to silence Gagauzia. Not only am I being deprived of my freedom - I’m being denied an opportunity to exercise the will of the people, who elected me as their leader. But our determination, our faith and our strength - these are things they cannot take away from us. You can put me in custody, but you cannot silence the voice of an entire people," Gutsul wrote on Telegram.

Earlier in the day, the Chisinau District Court ruled to extend Gutsul's house arrest by 30 days. Prosecutor Adrian Scutaru believes that Gutsul may try to obstruct the investigation process or try to flee if set free. Her lawyer Sergey Moraru said he would appeal the decision, which the defense considers illegal and ungrounded.

Gutsul was detained on March 25 at the Chisinau airport. She is facing two investigations. In one, she was charged with irregularities related to the financing of the 2023 election campaign. In the other, she was indicted for irregularities in the financing of the opposition party Sor, which was declared illegal by Moldova’s authorities and subsequently dissolved. She denied all charges, saying that her arrest was staged by the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity.

Relations between Chisinau and Comrat sharply deteriorated following Gutsul's 2023 election as head of Gagauzia. Gutsul, an opposition candidate, expressed her intent to strengthen the region’s friendly ties with Russia and criticized the pro-Western Moldovan government’s confrontational stance toward Moscow. Moldova’s authorities attempted to declare her election invalid, but the Gagauz parliament stood by Gutsul. Several mass protests supporting her were held in the region. President Maia Sandu refused to sign the decree officially appointing Gutsul to the Moldovan government, defying legal procedures.

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