Governor of Gagauz autonomy placed under arrest for 20 days

Governor (bashkan) of the Autonomous Territorial Unit (UTA) of Gagauzia, Evghenia Gutul, has been placed under arrest for 20 days. The judges of the Chisinau Court, Ciocana branch, today announced the ruling to this effect.

The prosecutors' request was partially granted, as they initially sought 30 days of arrest.

The case prosecutor, Adrian Scutaru, emphasized that the enforcement of preventive arrest was reasoned by the risk of evading the criminal prosecution  body.

“It is also about the risk of not appearing in court or negatively affecting the course of the criminal investigation by influencing the evidence. She is charged with committing four offenses, namely: the illegal financing of the election campaign for the position of governor (bashkan) of Gagauzia in 2023, accompanied by document forgery, statement forgery and falsifying campaign financing reports. Evghenia Gutul pleads not guilty,” stated Adrian Scutaru.

Anti-corruption prosecutors submitted a request to the court for the enforcement  of preventive arrest against Evghenia Gutul on 27 March. The request was made in the context of her detention at the Chisinau International Airport on 25 March. The detention took place while Evghenia Gutul was set to leave the country, being involved in another criminal case managed by the National Anticorruption Center.

The criminal file was opened on the infringement of the way of management of financial resources from electoral funds, illegal financing of electoral competitors, document forgery and statement forgery related to the 2023 election.