Eugenia Gutsul
Eugenia Gutsul was found guilty of complicity in the illegal financing of the banned party “Shor”, as well as in accepting illegal money in the amount of approximately 42.5 million lei. In the same case, Svetlana Popan, secretary of the central office of the former “Shor” party, was sentenced to 6 years in prison. They were taken into custody right in the courtroom.
The Bashkan of Gagauzia called it a “political massacre organized on instructions from above” in a statement delivered through lawyers after the verdict was announced.
Gutsul believes that the verdict against her is a verdict on the entire democracy in Moldova. “The authorities use repression and prosecution against dissidents. In the run-up to the parliamentary elections, they are not shy in their methods, using fabricated cases, pressure on judges, and political sentences.”
Lawyers of Yevgeniya Hutsul intend to challenge the verdict in higher instances.
The verdict of the Bashkan of Gagauzia predictably shook the whole Moldovan society and marked another line of division. Supporters of the ruling PAS party do not hide their joy, although there are also those who are saddened by the fact that “not enough was given”. The opposition and even many pro-European politicians and experts believe that the “Gutsul case” was another evidence of selective justice in Moldova and political influence on the judicial system.
In this regard, some analysts draw a parallel with the data published in February this year that USAID allocated a grant of $124.2 thousand to the Moldovan non-governmental organization Klumea to mobilize the electorate before the presidential elections in 2024. The data is contained on the U.S. government website USAspending.gov, which tracks federal spending.
Although many politicians at the time called for an investigation into these financial injections into the election campaign (which Moldovan law prohibits), there were no criminal proceedings or even any coherent explanation from the Moldovan authorities and justice system.
The international partners also took a strange position. Ambassadors of Western countries, including the EU, did not react publicly to the verdict. Only the UN Secretary General’s Office stated that it considers the verdict to the Bashkan of Gagauzia Eugenia Gutsul to be an internal matter of Moldova. Although, when Russian and Belarusian oppositionists were sentenced, both the Office of the UN Secretary General and other international partners actively commented on it and “expressed concern”.
In Gagauzia, meanwhile, the sentence on the head of the autonomy was called “a point of no return in the relations between Comrat and Chisinau”. Such a statement was made at an extraordinary session of the People’s Assembly of the autonomy on August 6. The PAG deputies decided to prepare a special resolution on the Bashkan’s sentence, in which they would express the official position of the authorities “and all residents” of the autonomy towards this decision.
