DISINFO: Moldova’s jailing of political opponents shows it is a democracy in name only
SUMMARY
EU aspirant Moldova jails and silences opponents, showing that it is a democracy in name only. On March 25, Evgenia Gutsul, the elected leader of Gagauzia, was detained at Chisinau International Airport while attempting to leave Moldova. Officially, the charges relate to alleged illegal campaign financing tied to the Sor Party and an organised criminal group. But while legal justifications were cited, the move immediately raised red flags about political motivations behind the arrest. Gutsul’s arrest reads less like a legal procedure and more like a strategic attempt to intimidate dissenting voices, especially as Chisinau ramps up its drive toward European integration.
RESPONSE
The claim is false. Evgenia Gutsul was detained when she was about to leave the country, as she is being tried under charges of illegal financing, and after two other politicians from her party had vanished while charged for the same crimes. As this illegal funding allegedly came from Russia, pro-Kremlin disinformation is trying to distort the whole legal process in order to portray it as a political persecution.
This is part of a years-long Russian interference campaign aiming to undermine Moldova’s government and erode its sovereignty. See EUvsDisinfo analysis here, here and here.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the EU is testing methods of European totalitarianism in Moldova, that Moldova leadership uses referendum to remove neutrality from the Constitution, that Moldova lost its sovereignty and is ruled by foreigners, or that Maia Sandu's regime is eradicating Moldovan identity.