Moldova jailed the leader of its Gagauzia autonomous republic for seven years financial crime in a high-profile case that is likely to further worsen ties between the two countries.
A court in Chsiniau ruled on Tuesday that Yevgenia Gutsul, 38, funneled undeclared funds from Russia from 2019 to 2022 to finance the now-defunct pro-Moscow Șor (Shor) party. The judged said the “act meets the elements of the crime”, adding that the sentence was not final and could be taken to an appeals court. Gutsul rejected as “politically-motivated” the charges leveled against her, saying the decision in her case was unfair. “I do not recognize this farce and will fight for my name, for my honor and for the truth,” Gutsul wrote on Telegram, accusing Moldova’s President Maia Sandu as well as the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity of using “repression as a tool to combat dissent.”
Former secretary of the Shor party’s central office, Svetlana Popan, was also sentenced to six years in prison and together with Gutsul will serve her sentence in a semi-closed penitentiary, Moldovan state news agency Moldpres reported. The party’s founder Ilan Shor, a pro-Russia businessman living in exile was also convicted of fraud in Moldova back in 2023.
Moscow slammed the court ruling as "an example of a politically motivated decision" and a pressure on dissent ahead of parliamentary election on September 28. It should be noted that last month, Maia Sandu accused the Kremlin of planning to interfere in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Russia has denied allegations of election meddling raised by Moldova’s pro-European government.
