Ukrainian Judge’s Kidnapping May Have Political Impact in Moldova
Analysts say that last month’s kidnapping of a Ukrainian judge in Moldova may damage President Maia Sandu ahead of early parliamentary elections due this summer.
On April 3, Ukrainian judge Nikolai Chaus, his son and two
bodyguards were abducted in central Chisinau. The kidnappers released all the
men except for the former judge whose whereabouts are still unknown.
Chaus, a former Kyiv judge, became widely known in 2016
after being accused by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine of taking
a 150,000 US dollar bribe, which he allegedly buried in glass jars under his
house.
There was huge public interest in the case, as Chaus had
played a prominent role in the government of Petro Poroshenko. However, the
judge managed to avoid trial, fleeing to Moldova a few days later where he
applied for political asylum.
At that time, the Ukrainian media linked this escape to the
fact that Poroshenko was a friend and business partner of oligarch Vlad
Plahotniuc, then the country’s de facto ruler. Ukraine’s request for Chaus’
extradition was subsequently denied.
However, following parliamentary elections in 2019 after
which Plahotniuc fled the country, the issue of the judge’s extradition
resurfaced. His application for asylum and Moldovan citizenship had been denied
and he was awaiting an appeal decision on April 28, also anticipated to deny
him the right to asylum.
Officials from former president Igor Dodon’s Socialist Party
of Moldova raised the possibility that the Ukrainian special services had been
involved in the kidnapping, an allegation that at first seemed groundless.
However, investigators soon made a similar statement after
one of the kidnappers was detained and a video appeared showing Chaus leaving
Moldova in the boot of a car with Ukrainian diplomatic plates, which guaranteed
it free passage through the Ukrainian border.
“This crime was committed by foreign citizens who crossed
the state border,” said Moldovan minister of internal affairs Pavel Voicu.
“They have already left the country through the border with Ukraine. We have
records evidencing it in the Ukrainian language.”
Kyiv officially denied any involvement in the abduction, and
foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba offered to create a joint Ukrainian-Moldovan
working group to investigate the issue.
This did not placate Chisinau, especially after it emerged
that the car in which Chaus was taken to Ukraine belonged to the military
attaché of the Ukrainian embassy in Moldova, Sergei Smetanyuk.
The Moldovan foreign ministry made an official request to
strip Smetanyuk of diplomatic immunity in order to launch a criminal prosecution.
Artem Filipenko of the Ukrainian National Institute for
Strategic Studies said that the incident was now being exploited for political
gain.
“The country is holding early parliamentary elections this
summer and this kidnapping is actively used by the Socialists, the party of
former President Igor Dodon. The incumbent president Maia Sandu is accused of
having coordinated this abduction with Volodymyr Zelensky, bypassing the
country’s legislation,” he continued, noting that Socialist Party lawmaker Bogdan
Tirdea had repeatedly accused Sandu of collusion.
“Moreover, the Socialists are trying to associate this
abduction with the current escalation in Donbass. They repeat the narrative of
Russian propaganda, accusing Kyiv of escalation and, as an example of our
aggression, referring to the abduction of Chaus and from this case drawing
conclusions that Moldova should recognize the Donetsk republics.”
Even if the scandal costs Sandu a few per cent of support in
the July elections, the difference could be decisive.
Relations between Moldova and Ukraine have improved since
Sandu became president. She chose Kyiv as her first international visit,
marking a notable change in tone as Ukraine had previously refused to engage in
dialogue with her predecessor Dodon.
However, the current incident might put the reset of
relations between Kyiv and Chisinau on hold. Sandu’s office said that attempts
to speak to her Ukrainian counterpart for an explanation had so far been
unsuccessful.
A Ukrainian official who deals with relations with Moldova
said that Chisinau was currently weighing the option of declaring the Ukrainian
agents involved in the kidnapping as wanted persons.
The one detainee currently held is not thought to be a key
figure in the abduction.
“This could spoil the relations between our countries for a
long time,” the official concluded.
However, analysts remain baffled as to why Kyiv would have
ordered a kidnapping when Chaus’ deportation looked imminent.
Political scientist Yevgeny Magda said that some overzealous
actors within the administration may have been trying to curry favour with
Zelensky.
“At least, this seems like the only logical explanation,” he
continued. “Some in Zelensky’s team believe that Chaus has unique evidence
against former president Poroshenko. It is possible that by obtaining this
compromising material they wanted to give Zelensky a nice gift on the second
anniversary of his victory in the presidential elections. There is simply no
other version which can at least somehow explain Kyiv’s hasty move.”
Comments
Post a Comment