Espionage, criminal organisation and harming Austria: UP journalist Tkach reveals allegations against him in Vienna

Mykhailo Tkach, head of Ukrainska Pravda's investigative journalism department, has said that he and cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko were accused of three offences after being detained in Vienna: espionage on behalf of Ukrainian military intelligence, participation in a criminal organisation and causing harm to Austria.

Source: Tkach in a video for UP

Quote: "At the beginning of the interrogation, I was given a document to sign. As I understand it, it was the equivalent of a formal notice of suspicion. It listed three allegations against us. One was espionage on behalf of Ukrainian military intelligence. Another was participation in these activities, which was classified as involvement in a criminal organisation. The third allegation, as far as I remember, concerned causing harm to Austria."

Details: Tkach said that during the questioning, law enforcement officers did not explain the grounds for the accusations. As it progressed, he concluded that there was no evidence against him or his colleague.

Quote: "We had worked in Vienna many times, always in public places, covering public figures and people about whom information was in the public interest. So hearing such allegations came as a shock to me."

Details: Tkach described what happened as an "extraordinary misunderstanding". Tkach also suggested that the detention might have resulted from information provided to Austrian law enforcement officers, possibly through manipulation.

He said the first round of questioning lasted around two hours. A Ukrainian consul arrived afterwards, which gave the journalist an opportunity to tell him about his detention. The questioning then resumed.

Tkach thanked Ukrainian diplomats for their assistance, noting that, in his view, their intervention had helped significantly.

Background:

• On 8 October, it was reported that Tkach had been detained in Vienna while carrying out an assignment from the editorial team involving tracking down the 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 the Ukrainian consul had been granted access to Tkach and had spoken with him.
• In the morning, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry reported that Tkach had been released.
• Ukrainska Pravda Editor-in-Chief Sevğil Musaieva reported that Tkach had been released after being detained in Vienna, but the editorial team was unable to contact him, and that cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko was injured during the detention.
• Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner stated that Tkach was released following his detention in Vienna, but cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko remains in custody. The minister said the Ukrainians were detained on suspicion of espionage.
• Tkach previously said that masked, armed men smashed the windows of their car and dragged him and cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko onto the road during their detention in Vienna. One of the men then knelt on Tkach's neck as he repeatedly said he was a journalist.

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