On 25 March, Evghenia Gutsul was detained at the airport in Chisinau

CHISINEV, 28 March - A court in Moldova has approved the arrest of Evghenia Gutsul, president of Moldova's autonomous region of Gagauzia, on suspicion of violating financial management rules during the autonomy's 2023 elections.

Detention and arrest

• On 25 March, Gucul was detained at Chisinau airport. She was on her way to Istanbul, Turkey, at the invitation of the journalists' association.
• The Moldovan Prosecutor General's Office announced that Gutsul has been banned from leaving the country.
• Moldova's National Anti-Corruption Center (NCCC) tried to seize documents of the Gagauz Executive Committee without submitting a decree on their seizure, Viktor Petrov, deputy chairman of the autonomy's executive committee, told TASS news agency.

Accusations

• Moldova's Prosecutor General's Office accuses Gucul of violating the financial management procedure of the electoral fund in the 2023 autonomy elections.
• According to a document provided by a Chisinau court, she is accused of allegedly organising the forgery of several documents containing false information about monetary donations from individuals during the election campaign.

Kremlin

• Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "The Moldovan authorities are persecuting all political opponents who advocate building the country's relations with Russia."
• "All the political forces that advocate the development of relations between Moldova and Russia are now in fact subjected to illegal persecution."

Evghenia Gutsul was detained at Chisinau airport on 25 March, despite having travelled repeatedly to Russia, Turkey and other countries on business. The following day, Moldova's National Anti-Corruption Centre announced that the prosecutor's office would charge her and ask the court to agree to her detention as a precautionary measure.

Moldovan authorities are trying to accuse Gutsul of involvement in financial irregularities related to the Gagauz elections, which they say were staged by the opposition Sor party. Gutsul rejects these accusations as unfounded and claims that Moldovan President Maia Sandu is behind them.

TASS / gnews.cz - jav