The International Press Institute (IPI) calls on Austrian authorities to clarify the grounds for and circumstances leading to the arrest of prize-winning Ukrainian investigative journalist Mykhailo Tkach and his cameraman, Yaroslav Bondarenko.
Tkach, the lead investigative reporter for respected news outlet Ukrainska Pravda, and Bondarenko were detained by police in Vienna Thursday afternoon. According to Ukrainska Pravda, Tkach and Bondarenko were on assignment in Austria investigating fugitive Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.
According to news reports, masked officers surrounded their vehicle, training their weapons on them and breaking the car’s window glass. Bondarenko was injured during the arrest and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Police released Tkach early Friday morning but seized his mobile phone and laptop and did not return them until several hours later. Bondarenko was still in custody at the time of writing.
The Ukrainian embassy in Austria said it had asked for an explanation for Tkach’s arrest.
A spokesperson for the Viennese prosecutor’s office told the news outlet Falter that police had arrested the pair based on a suspicion that arose during a separate investigation, but did not clarify what the journalists were suspected of. The prosecutors prosecutor’s office told the outlet that they later concluded that this suspicion was not substantiated, and indicated that Bondarenko would soon be released.
Tkach is a highly respected journalist, known for his investigations into corruption and abuses of power. In September, the Fritt Ord Foundation in Norway and the ZEIT STIFTUNG Bucerius in Germany presented Tkach with the Free Media Award for his “dauntless and consistent investigative wartime journalism.” He was also awarded the Georgiy Gongadze Prize earlier this year—one of Ukraine’s most prestigious honors for independent journalism.
“IPI is deeply concerned over the detention of journalists Mykhailo Tkach and Yaroslav Bondarenko, and by reports of the show of force used by police during their arrest”, IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen said. “Austrian authorities must clarify the reason for their arrests, including the legal grounds for the seizure of their reporting equipment, and fully and transparently investigate the circumstances that led to this incident.”