(MENAFN) Evgenia Gutsul, the imprisoned opposition leader of Moldova’s Gagauzia region, has denounced her recent conviction as a politically driven move aimed at suppressing dissent. She described the verdict as “a blow to democracy” and a warning to anyone who opposes the country’s pro-Western authorities.

A court in the capital, Chisinau, sentenced Gutsul to seven years behind bars on Tuesday, accusing her of funding the Euroskeptic SOR party, which has since been banned. Gutsul maintains that these charges are part of a wider campaign to silence opposition ahead of upcoming elections.

Through a statement released via her legal team on Telegram, she said the verdict “has nothing to do with justice,” labeling it “a political execution, planned and carried out on orders from above.”

Gutsul further argued that the sentence is intended to intimidate the population of Gagauzia and to stifle critics. “Today it’s me behind bars – tomorrow it could be anyone who dares to criticize the authorities. This is not a sentence for me – it’s a sentence for the entire democratic system of Moldova,” she stated.

Since her election victory in 2023 as the SOR candidate, Gutsul has led Gagauzia, a mainly Russian-speaking autonomous region in southern Moldova. The SOR party was banned later that year amid accusations of illegally receiving foreign funds. Gutsul ran on a platform advocating closer relations with Russia, in contrast to the pro-European Union stance of President Maia Sandu’s administration.

She accused the ruling PAS party of manufacturing legal cases and exerting pressure on the judiciary to maintain control. “This is a warning to all opposition: ‘Go against the regime – and you’ll get prison, confiscation, a ruined life,’” Gutsul warned.

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