ISTANBUL

Moldova’s national anticorruption body announced Wednesday that it detained the governor of the autonomous Gagauzia region.

Evghenia Gutul was detained Tuesday at the Chisinau International Airport in a criminal case “based on the violation of the management of financial means from electoral funds, illegal financing of electoral competitors, forgery of documents and forgery of declarations, related to the 2023 elections,” according to a statement by the Moldovan National Anticorruption Center.

It said Gutul’s detention is also part of a criminal case launched Tuesday into the former treasurer appointed to the latest election campaign for the region’s leadership in 2023.

Gutul was detained for 72 hours, according to the Moldovan Prosecutor General’s Office.

The Kremlin condemned Moldova for the detention and urged it to “abandon such methods and provide freedom of action to all political forces in the country.”

“Apparently, Chisinau has chosen the tactic of not paying attention to the law, not paying attention to the principles of democracy, not paying attention to the principles of political pluralism and simply exerting overt pressure on all political competitors,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Moscow.

Gagauzia's Executive Committee described the governor's detention as an "unprecedented act of pressure" on the region's autonomy.

Gutul, a member of the Shor party, won the regional presidential election in Gagauzia in May 2023.