Court leaves ex-judge Chaus under house arrest
"The HACC's Appeals Chamber has upheld the trial court's judgment," she said.
Accordingly, the court dismissed the request by a prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office to choose a measure of restraint for Chaus in the form of detention without the right to post bail.
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.
