6 days ago
Pro-Russian Moldova governor gets jail term over alleged illegal financing
A Moldovan court on Tuesday sentenced a pro-Russian regional governor to seven years in prison for alleged illegal party financing, a decision the Kremlin denounced as "politically motivated".
Evghenia Gutul, a fierce critic of Moldova's EU-leaning government, has been governor of the Gagauzia region since 2023.
In recent years she has faced accusations of fraudulent management of electoral funds, illegal financing and false statements related to her election.
A Chisinau court on Tuesday convicted Gutul over her involvement in illegally financing the former Shor party set up by the fugitive businessman Ilan Shor, which was subsequently banned.
Prosecutors accuse Gutul of transporting undeclared funds from Russia to Moldova between 2019 and 2022 as secretary of the Shor party.
Gutul has denied any wrongdoing, and her lawyer Sergiu Moraru has vowed to appeal a ruling he called "a public execution".
In a post on Telegram, Gutul denounced the court's decision as a "political reprisal", saying it was "an attempt to intimidate the residents of Gagauzia who have the courage to vote against the ruling party's wishes".
Dozens of her supporters shouted "Shame" and "Down with (Moldovan President) Maia Sandu" when Gutul was escorted to a police van.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Gutul's sentencing "a politically motivated decision" ahead of parliamentary elections in September.
"The opposition is being squeezed in every possible way in Moldova," he said.
Gutul, 38, has made several trips to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin since being elected governor of Gagauzia with the support from Shor.
When she was detained at Chisinau airport in March, she sent a public letter to Putin asking him to help pressure the Moldovan authorities to release her.
Shor, who was convicted in absentia for fraud, took refuge in Russia. Moldovan authorities accused him of funnelling tens of millions of dollars into the country in 2024 in a bid to sway voters.
The autonomous Gagauzia region is in southern Moldova, and most of its 135,000 inhabitants mainly speak Russian despite their native language being closer to Turkish.
ani/kym/js
