Vienna prosecutors say eyewitness accounts led to journalist Mykhailo Tkach's arrest. UP demands answers
The Vienna Prosecutor's Office has said "eyewitness accounts" were the grounds for the arrest of Ukrainska Pravda journalists Mykhailo Tkach and Yaroslav Bondarenko. Ukrainska Pravda believes the law enforcement officers exceeded their powers and there are many questions that the prosecutors have declined to answer, including how they verified information provided by third parties.
Source: Vienna Prosecutor's Office; a statement by Ukrainska Pravda editor-in-chief Sevğil Musaieva
Details: The Vienna prosecutors said they are currently investigating two Ukrainian citizens who have been remanded in custody on suspicion of espionage.
Quote from the Vienna Prosecutor's Office: "In the course of the investigation, suspicion was also raised with respect to another individual. This suspicion was based, among other things, on available eyewitness accounts that three men had been observed surveilling a site, and on the fact that the surveillance had been carried out during the same period and in the same manner.
On the basis of these investigative findings, there were grounds to suspect that the three Ukrainian citizens were acting as a criminal group. The Vienna Prosecutor's Office therefore ordered the arrest of the third individual, having obtained court authorisation.
At the time of the arrest, there was another person in the car whose identity was unknown to the investigative authorities at that point. As there were reasonable grounds to suspect that this person was also a member of the Ukrainian criminal group, the police arrested him on their own initiative.
It was not known at the time of the arrests that the suspects were a Ukrainian investigative journalist and a cameraman."
Details: The prosecutors also said that questioning had enabled them to "confirm that surveillance had taken place", but not to establish a link with the suspects who were already in custody. As a result, the authorities in Vienna "decided to release both detainees".
The prosecutors added that the arrests had been "in no way related to the journalists' professional activities" and maintained that the decision to arrest them was "justified in view of the factual circumstances known at the time".
Ukrainska Pravda considers the measures taken against the journalists to have been unjustified and disproportionate.
The outlet also stressed that although information provided by third parties had been one of the grounds for the arrests, the prosecutors have not explained how its reliability had been verified.
Quote from UP: "Our editorial team has learned that Ruslan Kravchenko is currently in Vienna. The circumstances surrounding his presence there are a matter of public interest and warrant journalistic scrutiny. The Austrian legal system must not be used to stifle legitimate journalistic inquiry.
The public prosecutor's office states that information provided by third parties was one of the grounds for the arrest, but has not explained how the accuracy of that information was established, whether it was corroborated by publicly available information, or whether the possibility that it may have been intended to mislead the law enforcement agencies was examined.
This raises a fundamental question: have the Austrian law enforcement agencies been used to obstruct journalistic work? The actions of those who reported the alleged crime require a separate investigation and legal assessment. It must be established whether the information they provided was accurate and whether they deliberately disseminated false or misleading information. If such conduct is confirmed, those involved must be held accountable as provided for by law.
UP also believes that the law enforcement officers overstepped their authority and expects specific answers: What justified the use of force? Why were our colleagues held for so long? On what legal grounds were their communication devices seized? Why could the information not have been verified by less intrusive means? The damage to and partial loss of property must also be explained separately. The published statement leaves these questions unanswered."
UP and its lawyers will be pursuing a full investigation into the detention, seeking to hold accountable those responsible for any violations, establish the circumstances in which property was lost, and secure compensation for the damage caused.
Background:
- On 8 October, it was reported that Tkach and Bondarenko had been detained in Vienna while carrying out an assignment from the editorial team involving tracking down the fugitive former prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko.
- Austria's Interior Ministry said Tkach had been detained on suspicion of espionage, an allegation that was later found to be unsubstantiated.
- 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 Bondarenko had been injured during the detention.
- Tkach later said that after their arrest, he and Bondarenko were charged with three offences under Austrian law: espionage on behalf of Ukrainian military intelligence, involvement in a criminal organisation, and causing harm to Austria.
- Tkach also described how armed masked men smashed the windows of his car and dragged him and Bondarenko out onto the road as they were arrested in Vienna. One of the men then knelt on Tkach's neck as he repeatedly insisted he was a journalist.
Subscribe on Patreon to back our journalism long-term.