Oleg Khorzhan was the leader of the Communist Party of Transnistria.
Moldova’s Agency for Reintegration strongly condemns “criminal acts that threaten people’s lives” and has offered its condolences to the politician’s family.
The organization Promo-lex, which works to protect human rights in the region, says Khorzhan was “one of the few public figures who had the courage to fight for basic rights and freedoms” in Transnistria.
The organization also calls on foreign diplomatic missions in the country to monitor and condemn “the systemic persecution of activists” in Transnistria.
Khorzhan was sentenced in 2018 to just over four years in prison after he was accused of assaulting a police officer in the capital Tiraspol a few days after he organized a protest in the city.
His party called the verdict “absurd” and accused the Tiraspol authorities of political persecution.
Since Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine, Moldova’s leaders have repeatedly accused Russia of trying to destabilize the country, which was a Soviet republic until 1991.