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Nikolai Chaus (Photo: Marian Kushnir / Radio Svoboda)
Former Ukrainian judge Nikolai Chaus, declared by Interpol on the international wanted list on suspicion of bribery, was kidnapped in Moldova, reports the local NewsMaker edition, citing a lawyer and police.
Chaus’s lawyer, Iulian Balan, said a group of unknown gunmen abducted the former judge in central Chisinau on Saturday, April 3.
«An important announcement for the administration of the President of Moldova, the Attorney General, the Information and Security Service and all law enforcement agencies: today, April 3, in the center of Chisinau, my client, the Ukrainian judge Nikolai Chaus, whose application for asylum is being considered by the court, was kidnapped, ”said the lawyer. Added that this event does «to doubt the capacity of the State to protect ”.
According to the newspaper, the Chisinau police press secretary, Natalia Stati, confirmed the fact of the kidnapping.
«A 54-year-old man was kidnapped by three people. The incident occurred near a residential building in the downtown sector of the capital. The police were alerted at 1:15 pm. Now the investigating authorities are clarifying the circumstances of the incident, a criminal case has been opened, “he said.
On March 15, Moldova rejected an application to grant political asylum to Nicolae Chaus.
In 2020, Interpol stopped the search for the fugitive judge of Kiev’s Dniprovsky District Court, Mykola Chaus. This was done as part of the appeal procedure against the decision to include him on the international wanted list.
Chaus was last seen walking safely in the Moldovan capital in August 2019.
Chaus was placed on the international wanted list in November 2016 for his arrest and subsequent extradition to Ukraine. It is suspected that he received a bribe of $ 150,000; he hid the money in a glass jar.
In March 2017, Chaus was arrested in Chisinau by employees of the Moldovan Prosecutor’s Office at the request of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine. He applied for political asylum.
In early 2020, it emerged that the Attorney General’s Office had classified information on the extradition of Nikolai Chaus to Ukraine.
Judge Chaus is known for his cases against Automaidan, as well as for the trial in the case of UKROP leader Gennady Korban and the cancellation of the search for former people’s deputy and businessman Yuriy Ivanyushchenko.
