On Monday, 19 October, Irina Gutnic came to Chișinău City Hall with bailiffs, lawyers and the press, on an appeal decision that suspends her May dismissal. She entered the building. At the office door she was stopped. The hall says her four-year term expired today and that it issued a new termination order. That is not a ruling on the merits of the case.

The Centre Court of Appeal, on 1 October, suspended the execution of Mayor Ion Ceban's 11 May order until a final judgment. The court said the stay returns her provisionally to the earlier legal position. It is not a new appointment and not a finding that the dismissal was unlawful on the merits. In June the Râșcani court had refused her request for a stay.

Inside, human-resources head Ina Babin read that the legal department must urgently do what the appeal requires. Oleg Pavlenco, of the administrative directorate, told her the office belongs to the institution, not to her, and that after her release it was given to others. Valerii Bogdan, head of legal assistance, showed her today's order and asked her to leave the premises. Press access was first blocked, then allowed, TV8 writes.

The hall, in a message, says it noted the appeal, but that the four-year term that began in October 2022 ended on Monday and was not extended. The law, the institution says, lets the employer end the relationship on the day the four years fall. She was told in front of cameras, so she could not later say she had not been informed.

Gutnic calls today's order a defiance of the law. Only the Municipal Council, she says, can dismiss her, and it has not met for that. She will work from the one-stop counter from 8am, or in the field. She also asks for pay for the period she was kept from work, after the first-instance court rules. Ceban, in May, dismissed her abuse claims. Neither the abuse allegation nor the lawfulness of the dismissal is settled here.

The conflict has been public since 11 May. Gutnic left MAN, filed a complaint with the anti-corruption centre, and spoke of pressure. The council named Svetlana Dogotaru deputy mayor. PAS asked the State Chancellery to check. Monday shows two overlapping acts: an appeal stay and an expiry of term announced by the hall. Until the merits, neither is a verdict.

Image: Giku, Chisinau City Hall, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; the building, not Monday morning's door.

Sources consulted: Irina Gutnic went to Chisinau City Hall with bailiffs, lawyers and the press, but was not allowed into the office - Radio Moldova; Row at Chisinau City Hall: Irina Gutnic was stopped from entering the office to resume her post - TV8.