Court extends house arrest for ex-judge Chaus

Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court has extended until December 14 the round-the-clock house arrest for Mykola Chaus, a former judge of the Dniprovsky District Court of Kyiv who is suspected of taking a bribe, the court's press service has told Ukrinform.

"HACC has extended until December 14 the term of the pretrial detention in the form of round-the-clock house arrest and, accordingly, the term of obligations," the press service said.

Chaus is obliged to visit a detective when required, not to leave Kyiv without the detective's permission, to report the change of his place of residence, to refrain from communicating with witnesses, to hand in foreign passports, and to wear an electronic tracking bracelet.

On August 16, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court left Chaus under round-the-clock house arrest.

On August 4, HACC placed Chaus under round-the-clock house arrest.

In August 2016, detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau exposed Chaus for receiving a $150,000 bribe.

In September 2016, the Verkhovna Rada upheld the Prosecutor General's Office's request for consent to detain the judge and hold him in custody. However, Chaus fled Ukraine and was hiding in Moldova. On April 3, 2021, Chaus's lawyer, Yulian Balan, said a group of unidentified gunmen had abducted Chaus in central Chisinau.

On July 30, a number of Ukrainian media outlets reported that fugitive ex-judge Chaus surfaced in a village in Vinnytsia region. A resident of the village of Mazurivka allegedly told police that Chaus had been spotted in the area. The police detained the ex-judge before the latter was allegedly "intercepted" by SBU operatives who drove him away.

Later, the SBU stated that SBU agents did not "kidnap" Chaus, but acted within the law and their powers, as they are investigating the kidnapping of the ex-judge and his illegal transportation across the state border.

op