Evghenia Gutul May Face One-Year Suspension from Office

The governor of Gagauzia, Evghenia Gutul, faces suspension from office for up to one year. The Prosecutor’s Office of Gagauzia opened an offence case against the autonomy’s bashkan, accusing her of abusing powers and official duties. In mid-August, 2 activists Ivan Burguji and Leonid Dobrov lodged a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office of Gagauzia, demanding that Evghenia Gutul be prosecuted for “abusing her official duties” and “abuse of power”, in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Code. MFAEI - on the intention of Evghenia Gutul to open a representative office of the autonomy in Moscow: Upon review of the materials, the prosecutor’s office issued a ruling to initiate an offence case. The interim head of the Gagauz prosecutor’s office, Nicolae Levandovschi, sent a request to the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia (PAG), asking it to delegate a person to represent the PAG’s interests in court in the case against Gutul. According to deschide.md sources, the relevant request will be considered at the next PAG meeting, Noi.md quoted deschide.md as saying. According to the provisions of the Criminal Code, “abuse of power or official duties” is punishable by a fine of 30 to 90 conventional units (1,500-4,500 lei) with deprivation of the right to hold a certain position or the right to carry out a specific activity for a period of 3 months to a year. Let us recall that Evghenia Gutul won the election of the Bashkan of Gagauzia as a representative of the SOR party, which was recognized as unconstitutional.