Moldova Sets Up Commission On Disappeared Ex-Judge Accused Of Corruption - Official

Moldova Sets Up Commission on Disappeared Ex-Judge Accused of Corruption - Official

Members of Moldova's parliament greenlighted the establishment of the commission on investigating the disappearance of Nikolay Caus, a former Ukrainian judge accused of corruption, Parliament Speaker Zinaida Greceanii said on Friday

CHISINAU (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) Members of Moldova's parliament greenlighted the establishment of the commission on investigating the disappearance of Nikolay Caus, a former Ukrainian judge accused of corruption, Parliament Speaker Zinaida Greceanii said on Friday.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Monday that Caus, who escaped from Ukraine in 2016 to neighboring Moldova to seek political asylum, went missing. According to the Moldovan interior ministry, the ex-judge was kidnapped by foreigners and transported back to Ukraine.

"Most members of the parliament have voted for the initiative to create a parliamentary commission on investigating the circumstances of former Ukrainian judge Nikolay Caus' kidnapping," Greceanii said during a parliamentary session.

The commission includes nine parliamentarians from different fractions who have been charged to look into the situation. The incident is believed to constitute a threat to the country's internal security, making urgent the need to find out if the security services of Moldova were involved in the disappearance.

Caus was detained in August 2016 in Ukraine when receiving a bribe for adjudication in favor of a defendant. In the following month, the ex-judge left the country before Ukraine's parliament sanctioned his arrest which was earlier impossible due to judicial immunity. Caus' request for political asylum in Moldova was rejected, but he contested the decision. Moldova's court plans to consider the issue in late April.

On Wednesday, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Kiev was not involved in Caus' kidnapping.