‘Cash in Glass Jar’ Judge Avoids NABU Meeting
Judge of Dniprovskyi District Court of Kyiv Mykola Chaus, who is suspected of taking a bribe, did not come to a scheduled meeting at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office press office told Ukrayinska Pravda.
"As of 1 p.m., he didn’t arrive," it said.
Chaus had to come to NABU at 12 p.m. During the press briefing on Thursday morning, NABU Chief Artem Sytnyk stated that he was ‘almost sure’ Chaus would come. His international passport is being held by detectives, he added.
Chaus was caught soliciting and taking a $150,000 bribe. Law enforcement officers seized a glass jar full of money from him.
He cannot be detained because he enjoys judicial immunity. The immunity can only be lifted by Parliament, but the lawmakers are now on vacation.
Judge Chaus was involved in numerous high-profile cases. He issued decisions against Automaidan in late 2013 and early 2014, then he cancelled the decision to put oligarch Yuriy Ivanushchenko on a wanted list so that the latter managed to lift his travel ban and leave to Monaco. Chaus was subjected to lustration according by the Ministry of Justice, but he continued as a judge.
Source: Roman Kravets, Oleh Shankovskyi, Ukrayinska Pravda
