Prosecutor Says Ukrainian Judge Caught Taking Bribes, But Can't Be Prosecuted
Ukraine’s chief anticorruption prosecutor said on August 10 that a judge who served under ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych has been caught accepting bribes.
Prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytskiy said Mykola Chaus, a judge in Kyiv’s Dniprovskiy district court, was caught by anticorruption detectives accepting a $150,000 bribe on August 9 from an unnamed figure.
But Kholodnytskiy said Chaus cannot be detained because he has immunity from prosecution under Ukraine’s constitution.
Kholodnytskiy said “physical evidence was seized at the scene of the bribe transfer,” including a glass jar full of cash that Chaus allegedly used to accept bribes.
If convicted, Chaus could face a prison sentence of up to 12 years.
Kholodnytskiy called on Ukrainian lawmakers to revise “the old legal system,” saying that it was helping so-called “untouchables” in Ukrainian society.
Chaus had worked on some of Ukraine’s most sensitive cases under Yanukovych -- including numerous cases against pro-European protesters whose Maidan rallies led to Yanukovych’s ouster from the presidency.