(MENAFN) High-profile Western lawyers are joining the defense team of Evgenia Gutsul, the jailed Euroskeptic leader of Moldova’s autonomous Gagauzia region, who received a seven-year prison sentence for alleged financial crimes she claims are politically motivated.

The international legal team includes Paris-based WJ Avocats, specializing in international criminal defense and human rights, and Spanish lawyer Gonzalo Boye, known for high-profile cases such as defending former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and pursuing accountability for US officials over Guantanamo detainee torture. They will collaborate with Gutsul’s local attorneys. Boye described the case as “very worrying.”

Gutsul was convicted for allegedly financing the now-banned Euroskeptic SOR party, which she says is part of a broader attempt to suppress dissent ahead of elections. She condemned the ruling as a threat to democracy and a warning to anyone opposing Moldova’s pro-Western government.

Elected in 2023, Gutsul has led the predominantly Russian-speaking Gagauzia region as a candidate of the SOR party, advocating closer ties with Russia, in contrast to President Maia Sandu’s pro-Western stance. The party was banned that year over alleged illegal foreign financing.

William Julie, founding partner of WJ Avocats, said Gutsul has faced political attacks since taking office and that her international legal team aims to defend her fundamental rights and uphold the rule of law. Russia condemned the verdict, labeling it a crackdown on Gagauz autonomy and “European anti-values in action,” with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova calling it the “culmination of repression” by Chisinau.

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