Prosecutor's Office sues first case over abduction of former Ukrainian judge

Chisinau, 13 August /MOLDPRES/- A Moldovan citizen is accused of contributing to the abduction of former Ukrainian judge Mykola Chaus.

The Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS) announced in a press release that it has completed criminal investigation and sent to court the case on accusation of a Moldovan citizen, who contributed to the abduction of former Ukrainian judge Mykola Chaus, in April this year. The criminal investigation was carried out under the leadership of the PCCOCS prosecutors, by the criminal investigation officers of the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation, with the operative support of the National Inspectorate of Investigations, both structures being within the IGP of the Ministry of Interior.

According to the press release, the defendant is 30 years old and did military service in the national special forces. He was working in Ukraine as a security guard for a local, when in February he was recruited by the group of people, who later participated in criminal activities. According to the tasks, after returning to Moldova, the man collected more information about the home, lifestyle and daily itineraries of the family members of the former Ukrainian judge Chaus, who passed them on to the beneficiaries. Subsequently, also at the instigation of the organizers, he identified several properties that he rented, purchased three means of transport and made them available to the perpetrators of the crime.

The persons with whom he worked and made available the goods mentioned are from outside the country and used the means of transport including to be able to commit the crime of kidnapping in respect of two persons at the same time (former judge and his security guard) and in order to hinder the subsequent investigation process.

Previously, the defendant was detained and remanded in custody, beginning in May 2021. He recently entered into a plea agreement with the PCCOCS prosecutors, so that now, with the reduction of the previously alleged risks, he continues to be prosecuted in house arrest, under police supervision, with a series of restrictive measures. The present case has been separated from the basic file, which concerns the rest of the extras, in respect of which the investigations are ongoing.

It should be noted that, in this criminal case, the prosecutors addressed to the Ukrainian authorities several requests for letters rogatory, corresponding to the stages of advancing the investigations corroborated with the information exposed to the general public. So far, however, prosecutors in Ukraine have not come up with an official reaction.

According to the criminal legislation of the Republic of Moldova, the abduction of two or more persons is punishable by imprisonment from 6 to 10 years.