The Prosecutor General's Office of Moldova named the reason for the detention of the head of Gagauzia Hutsul

The detention of the head of the Gagauz Autonomy, Evgenia Gutsul, at the Chisinau airport is connected with the ban on her departure from Moldova. The country's Prosecutor General's office announced this on March 26.

"As a result of a routine check during border control, it was established that she (Hutsul. — Ed.) is listed in information systems with the status of a ban on leaving the country. <...> Subsequently, this person was detained for 72 hours," the message on the department's Facebook page says (the social network belongs to the Meta company, whose activities are recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation).

The press service of the National Anti-Corruption Center (NAC) reported that in the near future Hutsul will be formally charged with violating the procedure for managing election funds, illegally financing election competitors and falsifying documents, and prosecutors will request the court to place her under preliminary arrest.

The detention of Hutsul at the Chisinau airport without explanation became known on March 25. The Pobeda block reported that the head of Gagauzia was supposed to fly to Istanbul, where she had meetings scheduled. According to Yuri Kuznetsov, Deputy Head of External Relations of Gagauzia, the Hutsuls were stopped at border control and taken to a room for additional inspection.

Later, the head of Gagauzia was taken to the National Anti-Corruption Center (NAC) of Moldova, and her lawyers are with her. Supporters of the Hutsul and the Moldovan opposition gathered outside the building, and the authorities pulled police forces into the area.