Gagauzia head urges Putin to help with her release
According to Yevgenia Gutsul, Chisinau is disregarding all principles of democracy and international law, consistently and methodically provoking internal confrontation
By Yevgenia Gutsul
The head of Moldova’s autonomous Gagauzia region, Yevgenia Gutsul, who is being held in Chisinau, has appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to put pressure on the Moldovan authorities for her quick release.
“On behalf of the people of Gagauzia, who have never betrayed their historic friends, we appeal to you, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin]: use the entire range of diplomatic, political and legal mechanisms to put pressure on the Moldovan authorities to immediately stop the political repression and ensure my quick release,” said Gutsul’s statement, transmitted through a lawyer and posted on her Telegram channel.
Gutsul noted that “she was forced to appeal for support to the Russian president, the leader of a great power that has always defended the rights” of the people of Gagauzia, at one of the most difficult and crucial moments for her personally and for the whole region.
“My detention on unfounded and politically motivated charges was just one link in the chain of a large-scale and deceptive campaign by the central authorities of Moldova to destroy the Gagauz autonomy, its special legal status enshrined in the general law of the country: the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova,” she pointed out.
“This is an open attack on our rights and freedoms, on everything that constitutes the essence of our identity,” the politician said.
According to the Gagauzia leader, Chisinau is disregarding all principles of democracy and international law, consistently and methodically provoking internal confrontation, suppressing dissent, persecuting supporters of fraternal relations with Russia and presenting them as a “threat” to the state.
“In reality, it is fear of the truth, fear of the Gagauz people, who know with whom they have been in hard times and with whom they want to strengthen friendly relations,” she emphasized.
Gutsul also asked Putin “as the leader of a power that has always stood for justice, to express firm and unequivocal support for the special status of the autonomous region of Gagauz within the independent Republic of Moldova.”
She added that Gagauzia looks to Russia with faith and hope, as a country “that has never betrayed its friends and has always extended a helping hand to those who fight for the truth and their legitimate rights.
“Gutsul’s detention Moldova’s National Anti-Corruption Center said the day before that prosecutors would charge Gutsul and ask the court to detain her.
Gutsul was arrested at Chisinau airport on March 25, despite numerous business trips to Russia, Turkey, and other countries.
Last year, prosecutors accused Gutsul of involvement in financial mismanagement in the Gagauzia elections, allegedly committed by the Shor party.
After the election of the head of the autonomy, the party was outlawed by a decision of the Moldovan Constitutional Court, and criminal proceedings were initiated against its leaders. Gutsul calls the charges fabricated and says that President Maia Sandu is behind them.
The arrest of the Gagauzia leader was condemned by all opposition parties in the country’s parliament, which is controlled by the pro-Western Party of Action and Solidarity.
