Prosecutors in Moldova have challenged the transfer of the head of Gagauzia under house arrest

The Moldovan prosecutor's office has challenged the court's decision to transfer the head of the Gagauz Autonomy, Evgenia Gutsul, to house arrest. This was announced on April 14 by her lawyer Natalia Bayram.

She recalled that the politician's defense filed a counter-protest against the specified restriction of freedom for Hutsuls, demanding that it be lifted altogether.

"The prosecutor's office, for its part, also challenged the transfer of Hutsuls to house arrest. According to the procedure, today the court of first instance will transfer the case to the Appeals Chamber, which will set a date for consideration," TASS quoted the lawyer as saying.

Bayram added that the restrictions imposed by the court on communication and messaging make it impossible for the head of Gagauzia to fully perform his duties.

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On April 13, Alexey Polishchuk, director of the second CIS Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that Moscow would use all diplomatic resources to respond to the situation with the Hutsul detention. He also added that in Moldova itself, the politician's arrest was called "pre-election terror."

Hutsul was detained at the Chisinau airport on March 25. According to the Moldovan Prosecutor General's Office, this happened after her name was found on the list of persons prohibited from leaving the country. On March 28, the head of Gagauzia was arrested for 20 days. On April 9, a court in Chisinau ordered the transfer of the head of Gagauzia to house arrest for one month. At the same time, the defense considers the court's verdict to be excessively strict.

The official representative of the UN Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, said on April 3 that the United Nations (UN) is monitoring the situation with the arrest of Hutsuls and emphasizes the need to comply with legal procedure and the rule of law. On April 2, after her arrest, the politician herself called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to pay attention to the situation around Gagauzia. Gutsul stressed that the Moldovan judicial system is used by the authorities as a tool to "dismantle the autonomy" of the region.