EU candidate resorting to ‘political terrorism’ – exiled opposition head

Ilan Shor has condemned the Moldovan government after his ally Evgenia Gutsul was handed a seven-year prison sentence

Moldovan opposition politician Ilan Shor has accused the government in Chisinau of resorting to “political terrorism,” after a court sentenced Evgenia Gutsul, the Euroskeptic governor of the autonomous Gagauzia region, to seven years in prison.

Gutsul was convicted on Tuesday of receiving funds from organized crime and funneling them into the now-banned SOR party, which was founded by Shor. Moldovan prosecutors alleged that the funds were illegally used to finance anti-government political activities. The SOR party had backed Gutsul’s candidacy in the 2023 Gagauzian elections, prior to being outlawed. Shor is currently exiled and is based in Russia.

”This is not a fight when you are empty-headed and your opponent is armed with an assault rifle,” Shor said in an interview with Russian media on Wednesday “I believe this is straight political terrorism.”

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Gutsul has denied any wrongdoing and called the court ruling “a political execution, planned and carried out on orders from above.” The Russian government echoed this stance, accusing Moldova of political repression and further eroding the country's democratic institutions.

Shor expressed hope that Gutsul’s sentence could be overturned on appeal. He argued that if Gutsul were not an opposition politician, she would only have received the same kind of punishment for a much more serious crime such as murder.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has branded groups critical of her government as a threat to national sovereignty and has accused them of attempting to destabilize the country in favor of Moscow. Sandu’s government seeks accession to the European Union and has claimed that a crackdown on the opposition is necessary to safeguard EU integration.

Shor, however, argued that Sandu was acting on behalf of foreign interests, saying Western governments have “privatized” Moldova and now treat it “as just another colony” headed by a “hired manager.” He said he hoped that “in the immediate future we will topple this vile inhumane regime.”