Reporters Without Borders condemns obstruction of Mykhailo Tkach's work by Polish police

The international organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the obstruction of the work of journalist Mykhailo Tkach and cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko by the Polish police. 

Source: Reporters Without Borders on X (formerly Twitter)

Quote: "Two journalists from the Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda were detained for a few hours yesterday by the Polish police while reporting near the Belarusian border. Their equipment was searched and seized for a few hours. RSF condemns the obstruction of their work."

#Poland: two journalists from the 🇺🇦 media @UkrPravda_news were detained for a few hours yesterday by the 🇵🇱 police while reporting near the Belarusian border. Their equipment was searched and seized for a few hours. RSF condemns the obstruction of their work. pic.twitter.com/EkY6T8aLCu

— RSF (@RSF_inter) February 28, 2024

Background: 

• On 28 February, Polish law enforcement officers arrested an Ukrainska Pravda film crew consisting of Mykhailo Tkach, head of the investigative journalism department, and videographer Yaroslav Bondarenko, close to the Polish-Belarusian border as they were filming a story about the transit of goods between Poland, Russia and Belarus. Some of the footage was deleted by the Polish authorities.
• While our colleagues were being detained, the Polish police searched their car, removed the memory cards from their cameras, and took all their phones and documents. 
• The Podlaskie Voivodeship police posted a brief note on the evening of 27 February to say that they had not "detained a journalist from Ukraine".
• Later, the police reported that officers had taken measures to identify some individuals whose presence in the border area had caused concern to local residents.

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