Serhii Nykyforov, a spokesperson for President Volodymyr Zelensky, said this in a comment to ‘Bukvy’.
When asked whether Chaus’s kidnapping would influence relations with other countries, Nykyforov said, ‘The President’s recent visit to the Associated Trio (Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova) summit showed that Chaus case had not affected either bilateral talks with Moldovan President Maia Sandu or a multilateral meeting with Salome Zurabishvili (President of Georgia), Charles Michel (President of the European Council) and Maia Sandu.’
Earlier, Maia Sandu directly stated that Ukrainian special services had been involved in the abduction of the ex-judge in Chisinau, and ‘there are questions to Ukraine in this regard’.
On July 31, the SBU announced that it had not abducted ex-judge Mykola Chaus, but had acted within its authority. However, Ukrainians found this explanation rather strange.
Who is Chaus?
Mykola Chaus is an ex-judge of the Dniprovskyi District Court of Kyiv, known for making decisions against Avtomaidan. He was subject to lustration, but was not lustrated.
On August 9, 2016, the National Anticorruption Bureau detectives caught Chaus on a $ 150,000 bribe. However, the judge was not detained because, according to the Constitution, he had judicial immunity.
On November 28, 2017, the High Council of Justice dismissed Chaus from the position of a judge. In October, Interpol declared Chaus wanted.
He was found in Moldova. On July 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the Moldovan government to facilitate the extradition of Mykola Chaus.
Chaus kidnapping
On April 3, Chaus’s lawyer, Yulian Balan, said that a group of unidentified armed persons had abducted his client. Moldovan President Maia Sandu reacted to this.
A video was released showing the moment of the abduction. Subsequently, the Moldovan media, citing ‘Index’ Telegram channel, stated that Chaus had been taken to Ukraine in a Toyota RAV 4, which allegedly belonged to the Ukrainian embassy.
Later, the same channel reported that the military attaché of the embassy Serhii Smetaniuk was allegedly driving the Toyota RAV 4.
More details in ‘Bukvy’ article.