00:00This is Comrade, the capital of the autonomous Gagouzia region, located in the south of the Republic of Moldova.
00:06On August 6, a few dozen people took to the streets in support of the leader of Gagouzia, pro-Russian Evgenia Gutsul,
00:14who had been sentenced to seven years in prison.
00:17Gutsul was accused of corruption and of illegally financing the populist pro-Russian Shaw Party between 2019 and 2022.
00:25The party was deemed unconstitutional in 2023.
00:30This woman is a wonderful person.
00:37She has three years of the child, and her husband is holding her, and she will close her.
00:44What did this woman do for Moldova or Gagouzia? I don't understand.
00:51We are today seeing the consequences of the actions of the government of Gagouzia,
00:57not only of the government of Gagouzia, but also of the government of Gagouzia.
01:01While people were protesting, the People's Assembly of Gagouzia, the legislative body of the autonomy,
01:21convened urgently to condemn Gutsul's arrest. Local deputies expressed their disagreement with the sentence and accused the pro-European ruling party Action and Solidarity of establishing a dictatorship at the instruction of European officials, as they claim.
01:42I am one of those who did not support Eugenia Gutsul on the elections, but I know and understand why the society does not accept it.
01:56It is a big mistake of the central government of Gagouzia, that they have gone on this path.
02:03This is a step that has been given negative consequences for many years.
02:11Gagouzia's future was also discussed during the convention. At the present, Gutsul's duties are carried out by her first deputy, Ilya Uzun.
02:20Uzun threatened actions of disobedience towards the central authorities. However, in a statement given to DW, his message was a different one.
02:29We, Gagouzia's people, are listening to the rules. Everything we are going to do, we are going to do in terms of the rules.
02:36But we are going to gather with people, and we are going to sit here on the street, and we are going to sit here, or on the road, on the road, on the road.
02:43This is our legal right. You understand? Only so. Our weapon is a weapon of the truth.
02:50There is nothing more than this weapon. And all the world knows that Gagouzia's autonomy is hurting.
02:57The small-scale protest in Comrade lasted only a few hours. However, experts believe, tensions will pick up, especially ahead of the parliamentary elections, set to be held on September 28th.
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