Fugitive Ukrainian judge Mykola Chaus re-emerged on May 17, denying reports that he had been kidnapped.
In a video published on Telegram, Chaus, a suspect in a corruption case, said he was alive and well. His wife and lawyer believe the statement was made under duress.
Chaus, who once worked at Kyiv’s Dnipro District Court, was caught receiving a $150,000 bribe in 2016, after which he fled to Moldova. According to Moldovan authorities, he was kidnapped on April 3, 2021 and transported back to Ukraine.
However, Chaus now claims that he had been taken to Moldova by force in 2016.
“As you can see, I’m alive and well,” Chaus said in the video. “I’m alright. Currently I’m completely safe and feeling good. All my limbs are intact, and my jaws have no visible damage.”
Chaus said that he “intended to appear in Ukraine soon and answer all questions along with my lawyers.”
“There’s a lot of speculation on my alleged kidnapping,” he continued. “My kidnapping did take place – not now but in 2016.”
“Since (2016), I’ve been facing constant threats and had to live in Moldova,” Chaus said. “People implicated (in the 2016 “kidnapping”) were afraid that I would come back and start talking. I thank my friends who helped me to escape from that prison (an apparent reference to Moldova) and certain death.”
Reactions
Chaus’ wife Svitlana told the strana.ua news site that she believes Chaus did not read the text on his own initiative and was ordered by his kidnappers to do so. She does not buy the claim that her husband was not kidnapped in April.
“He doesn’t look like himself in this video,” she said. “The emotions, expressions and manner of speech are not characteristic of him. I can see that he doesn’t agree with what he’s saying.”
Chaus’ lawyer Oleksander Vyshnevy told Ukrainska Pravda he believes that Chaus was forced to make his video statement.
The people who allegedly kidnapped Chaus in 2021 are linked to Ukraine’s military intelligence, according to an April 8 report by Ukraine’s Slidstvo.info investigative project and Moldova’s RISE Moldova investigative site. The military intelligence service denied the accusations.
Moldova’s NewsMaker site reported on April 13 that Moldovan authorities had requested to strip diplomatic immunity from a Ukrainian diplomat allegedly implicated in the kidnapping. On May 9, Moldovan authorities arrested a suspect in the alleged kidnapping without identifying them by name.
2016 events
While describing the 2016 events in the video, Chaus may have been referring to allies of ex-President Petro Poroshenko, who did not respond to requests for comment.
RISE Moldova and Slidtsvo.info had cited a leaked Feb. 29, 2020 document from Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court that referred to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine’s investigation into Chaus’ escape in 2016. According to the document, people from Poroshenko’s orbit organized the escape.
Yury Fyodorov, one of Poroshenko’s guards, reportedly ordered another guard to organize a meeting at Kyiv’s Zhulyany Airport between Dorin Damir, an associate of Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, and Vyacheslav Turcu, a Moldovan-born resident of Ukraine.
On Fyodorov’s orders, the security guard helped Chaus leave Ukraine with Turcu’s passport, without passing airport security, the NABU said. Chaus and Turcu have a similar appearance, according to the investigators.
Turcu and Damir denied participating in Chaus’ escape from Ukraine.
The anti-corruption court document also mentions that Andriy Smyrnov, who is currently a deputy chief of staff for President Volodymyr Zelensky, was one of the people who allegedly helped Chaus flee to Moldova in 2016.
According to the document, Smyrnov drove Chaus to his hiding place in the Alpine Residential Complex, an expensive apartment complex in Kyiv, before he fled to Moldova. Smyrnov denied the accusations.
Asylum application
In Moldova, Chaus applied for asylum, and his request was rejected. A Moldovan court was expected to make a final decision on Chaus’ asylum on April 28, 2021 but the alleged kidnapping got in the way.
In an April 4 interview with the strana.ua news site, Svitlana Chaus said that Poroshenko’s top ally and ex-lawmaker Oleksandr Hranovsky ordered his associate, Serhiy Lysenko, to make Chaus submit a second asylum application. She believes that Chaus was kidnapped because he refused.
According to her, Lysenko came to Moldova on Jan. 18, broke the former judge’s door and scuffled with him. Strana.ua published a purported video of Lysenko’s visit. Hranovsky did not respond to requests for comment, and Lysenko could not be reached.
