UP journalist Tkach released but still out of contact, cameraman Bondarenko injured – editor-in-chief

Ukrainska Pravda Editor-in-Chief Sevğil Musaieva has reported that Mykhailo Tkach, head of the UP investigative journalism department, has been released after being detained in Vienna. However, the editorial team is still unable to contact him, while cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko was injured during the detention.

Source: Sevğil Musaieva on Facebook

Quote: "At 04:00 on 9 October… Mykhailo Tkach was released after being detained in Vienna for more than 12 hours. However, his communication devices have still not been returned, so the editorial team is currently unable to contact him directly. Our colleague Yaroslav Bondarenko was injured during the detention and was taken to hospital. The police only began questioning him during the night."

Details: The editorial team does not currently know the procedural status of either journalist.

"The allegations made against our colleagues while they were being held are unlike anything the editorial team has encountered before and raise serious questions. We expect the Austrian law enforcement authorities to explain the circumstances surrounding the detention of our colleagues, Yaroslav's injury and the reasons why they were both held for such a long time. We also expect clarification of their procedural status and the return of their communication devices," Musaieva said.

She recalled that Tkach had previously been detained while carrying out journalistic assignments in various countries, but in those cases he had been released within an hour and a half to two hours after the circumstances had been clarified.

"This is the first time our colleagues have been held for more than 12 hours. The length of the detention, the nature of the allegations made against our colleagues, Yaroslav's injury and the lack of direct contact with Mykhailo are a cause of serious concern for us," Musaieva concluded.

Previously: Earlier in the morning, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry reported that Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach, who had been detained in Vienna, Austria, the previous day, had been released.

Background:

• On 8 October, it was reported that Mykhailo Tkach, head of Ukrainska Pravda's investigative journalism department, had been detained in Vienna while carrying out an assignment related to the search for fugitive former Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.
• Tkach was in Austria with his colleague Yaroslav Bondarenko.
• The Ukrainian Embassy in Austria said it had asked the Austrian authorities to explain the circumstances surrounding Tkach's detention in Vienna.
• It later emerged that a Ukrainian consul had been granted access to Tkach and had spoken with him.

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