Rada Decision Needed to Lift Immunity from Judge Who ‘Hid Bribe Money in Glass Jar’
A glass jar with money was seized by anti-corruption prosecutors from judge Mykola Chaus, who was caught taking a bribe, Chief Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytskyi claims.
Kholodnytskyi said that Chaus’ could not be arrested or detained as according to the Constitution he has judicial immunity. He said that because the Verkhovna Rada is on holidays, it won’t be able to quickly review the filing on his arrest and detainment.
"Society has an urgent demand for just punishment for corrupt officials. Both anti-corruption prosecutors and NABU detectives are doing everything in their power to bring this and other ‘immune’ officials to responsibility," Kholodnytskyi said.
Deputy Chief Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Volodymyr Kryvenko said on 112 TV Channel that the next steps of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office will be to issue the official notice of suspicion and address the Supreme Court, so the the Supreme Court would ask the Verkhovna Rada to lift the judge’s immunity, if possible, by gathering a special session before the holidays end.
Mykola Chaus was a judge during the hearings against Maidan activists in 2013–2014 and many other cases that drew a lot of media attention. If proven guilty, he could go to jail for eight to twelve years, be suspended from certain official positions for three years, and have his property confiscated.
Chaus was supposed to be lustrated, but continued working as a judge.
Source: Ukrayinska Pravda
