Overview
- The court reopened proceedings on January 14 in the case against Gagauzia leader Evgenia Gutsul and Victory bloc activist Svetlana Popan.
- Both defendants participated by video after judges denied a defense request for their in-person attendance and asked journalists to leave the courtroom.
- Hearings had been paused since November 3 while the bench was reconstituted, as one judge was replaced after failing an integrity review.
- Defense lawyers questioned the panel's independence, sought the judges' self-recusal, and say they are preparing applications to the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations.
- Gutsul remains under a seven-year sentence from August 5 for financing the banned Şor party, and Popan received six years in the same case pending appeal.