A court found Gagauzia region head Evgenia Gutsul guilty of illegally funding political activities following a trial she claims was a farce

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 fabricated.

Dozens 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.

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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.

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