​GAGAUZIA EX-SPEAKER’S WIFE DETAINED IN CHISINAU AIRPORT

Maria Konstantinova, the wife of ex-Speaker of the Gagauzia Popular Assembly Dmitrii Konstantinov, was detained in Chisinau airport last night on suspicion of bribing voters.

According to prosecutor Vasily Stoinov, Mrs. Konstantinova was repeatedly summoned for interviews with investigators, “but she invariably ignored the legal demands of the investigation, so she was declared a wanted person”.

“Upon her arrival to Chisinau last night, Maria Konstantinova was detained for 72 hours. She is suspected of violating Article 181 of the Republic of Moldova Criminal Code on the obstruction to the free execution of the voting right or to the activities of electoral bodies. We are waiting for the arrival of Mrs. Konstantinova’s lawyers to present charges to them”, said the prosecutor.

Infotag’s dossier: Last December 20, prosecutors detained two people in Comrat [the administrative center of the southern Moldovan autonomous region of Gagauzia]: Chairperson of polling station #1/2 Elena Todorova and Secretary of the Supervisory Board of the Teleradio-Gagauzia public broadcasting company Anatoly Mavrodi, who is a member of the team of candidate for Gagauzia Popular Assembly Dmitrii Konstantinov. The reason for their detention was the evidence given in the court by two residents of Gagauzia who claimed that they had been bribed on the voting day of December 4. Later on, suspects Todorova and Mavrodi were released from custody and placed under a house arrest for the investigation period.

On December 29, the Comrat Appeals Court recognized the plenary powers of 33-of-35 GPA deputies. Electoral constituency #10 (Vulcanesti) would not be able to elect its deputy to GPA due to a chronic low voter turnout. And at constituency #1 (Comrat) the results of the December 4 election were recognized by the Republic of Moldova’s Supreme Court as null and void. To hold a new election there, it is necessary to appoint a new lineup of the election bureau because the previous bureau head was accused of complicity in bribing voters.