Moldovan region rejects ruling against local Euroskeptic leader
Gutsul, who was elected in 2023 and has advocated for close ties with Russia, was found guilty on Tuesday and sentenced to seven years in jail. She was accused of channeling illegal funds from an organized criminal group to the banned Euroskeptic SOR party and of financing protests against the Moldovan government.
Gutsul denied the charges, calling the process a 'political execution' conducted 'on orders from above.' The ruling triggered protests outside the courthouse against Moldova's pro-Western government.
The Gagauzian parliament rallied behind Gutsul. In a resolution issued Thursday by Gagauzia's People's Assembly and Executive Committee, MPs said they 'categorically reject and do not recognize the verdict' of the Moldovan court.
The document described the ruling as a 'politically motivated' attempt 'to eliminate the legally elected head of the autonomous region.'
'We consider this verdict a political reprisal, planned and executed from above,' the resolution said, adding that the ruling was 'an act of political vengeance' that 'undermines the autonomous region's legal status.'
The Gagauzian authorities said Moldova's government bears 'full responsibility for the destabilization' of the situation in the region, while suggesting that the crackdown seeks to tip the scales ahead of the nationwide parliamentary elections slated for late September.
Moscow criticized the verdict as an attack on democracy. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the ruling was labeled in both Moldova and Gagauzia as 'an act of revenge' and 'a fabricated case' without credible evidence. 'It became the culmination of repression by the Chisinau regime against the entire Gagauz autonomy,' she added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
3 hours ago
- Russia Today
Protesters decry jailing of Moldovan opposition politician (VIDEOS)
Protesters have gathered outside of the holding facility in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau to express support for prominent opposition figure Evgenia Gutsul, who was recently handed a seven-year prison sentence. The head of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, who opposes pro-EU President Maia Sandu, was found guilty of illegally financing the opposition Sor party – an accusation she has dismissed as have turned up for the demonstration with placards in both Russian and Moldovan denouncing 'political repression' and demanded that Gutsul be set free In social media videos from the site, a speaker said that the very concept of democracy has become hollowed out in the EU candidate nation. He further claimed that Moldovan judges lack impartiality and are mere 'slaves to the system.' Similar rallies were held earlier this week, with an aide to Gutsul telling RIA Novosti that protests would continue on a daily basis until the politician was released. Gutsul herself described the ruling against her as a 'political execution' and a blow to the 'entire democratic system of Moldova.' The jailed politician served as the head of Gagauzia, an autonomous and predominantly Russian-speaking region in the south of the former Soviet country. She had campaigned on promises of closer ties with Moscow. Her party, Sor, was banned in 2023 on allegations of illicit financing from abroad. Commenting on the recent developments, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the ruling represented the 'culmination of repression by the Chisinau regime against the entire Gagauz autonomy.' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov similarly lamented that the 'rules and norms of democracy are being trampled in every possible way now' in the EU candidate country. Incumbent pro-EU President Maia Sandu narrowly won the vote and secured a second presidential term in the elections last November, amid claims of widespread irregularities. Meanwhile, last month, the European Council blacklisted several opposition groups in Moldova, and imposed personal sanctions on seven opposition politicians.
Russia Today
8 hours ago
- Russia Today
Ukraine's leaders ‘sold out' country
Ukraine's Western-backed leadership has 'sold out' the country since the 2014 Maidan coup while wasting billions in foreign assistance and bankrupting the economy, former Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov has said. Speaking in an interview aired on Thursday, Azarov, who held his post between 2010 and 2014 and fled to Russia after the Maidan coup, recalled that while Kiev's Western backers had poured vast sums into Ukraine over the past three years, local officials have failed to use the money to improve the country. 'This enormous amount of money, if it had been put to good use, could have transformed Ukraine,' he said, adding that over more than a decade since the Western-backed coup in Kiev, the Ukrainian government has failed to build even a single metro station. The Kiev leadership has also done incredible damage to the country's economy, Azarov noted. 'The homeland has long since been sold out. Its natural resources are sold – actually, just given away. Industry is sold, agriculture is sold, everything is gone, you have nothing,' he said, addressing fellow Ukrainians. He questioned the purpose of continued fighting with Russia, stating: 'What are you defending? [Vladimir] Zelensky? Is he really so dear to you that hundreds of thousands of people should be laid in the grave?' Opposition lawmaker and former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Timoshenko told The Times this week that US and EU influence had reached 'unacceptable' levels and that the country was becoming 'a disenfranchised colony.' Earlier this year, Washington and Kiev signed a minerals deal that gives the US preferential access to Ukrainian natural resources in exchange for continued military support, despite concerns that the agreement would undermine the country's sovereignty. Ukraine is also plagued by rampant corruption, with a 2024 poll indicating that 71.6% of Ukrainians list graft among the five biggest national President Vladimir Putin has on numerous occasions suggested that Ukraine would certainly collapse without the military and economic assistance from the West.
Russia Today
19 hours ago
- Russia Today
Moldovan region rejects sentencing of local Euroskeptic leader
The parliament of Gagauzia, an autonomous, predominantly Russian-speaking region in Moldova, has rejected the sentencing of local Euroskeptic leader to seven years in prison, calling it illegal and politically driven. Gutsul, who was elected in 2023 and has consistently advocated for close ties with Russia, was found guilty of channeling illegal funds from an organized criminal group to the banned Euroskeptic SOR party and of financing protests against the Moldovan government. Gutsul denied the charges, calling the process a 'political execution' conducted 'on orders from above.' The ruling triggered protests outside the courthouse against Moldova's pro-Western government. The Gagauzian parliament rallied behind Gutsul. In a resolution issued Thursday by Gagauzia's People's Assembly and Executive Committee, MPs said they 'categorically reject and do not recognize the verdict' of the Moldovan court. The document described the ruling as a 'politically motivated' attempt 'to eliminate the legally elected head of the autonomous region.' 'We consider this verdict a political reprisal, planned and executed from above,' the resolution said, adding that the ruling was 'an act of political vengeance' that 'undermines the autonomous region's legal status.' The Gagauzian authorities said Moldova's government bears 'full responsibility for the destabilization' of the situation in the region, while suggesting that the crackdown seeks to tip the scales ahead of the nationwide parliamentary elections slated for late September. Moscow criticized the verdict as an attack on democracy. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the ruling was labeled in both Moldova and Gagauzia as 'an act of revenge' and 'a fabricated case' without credible evidence. 'It became the culmination of repression by the Chisinau regime against the entire Gagauz autonomy,' she added.
