Vienna Prosecutors Say Journalist's Arrest Was Unrelated to His Job
The Vienna prosecutors' office said on Monday, 12 October 2026, that the arrest of a Ukrainian journalist in Vienna the previous week was ordered because he was seen watching a location that two men suspected of spying had also surveilled, not because of his profession.
In its statement, the office said suspicions about a third man emerged during the investigation into the first two men arrested. Those suspicions rested in particular on witness statements indicating three men had been seen observing one location, in the same period and in the same manner. Prosecutors therefore believed the three were part of the same group and ordered the third man's arrest. A fourth man happened to be in the same car and was arrested with him.
At the time of the arrests, the office said, it was not known that the suspects were a Ukrainian investigative journalist and a cameraman, and the arrests were in no way related to their professional activities. Journalist Mykhailo Tkach and cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko were released without charge; Bondarenko was injured by shards of glass from a car window during the arrest. The first two Ukrainians arrested remain in investigative custody, and Austrian media have reported they are suspected of working for a Ukrainian intelligence service.
Tkach, Bondarenko and Ukrainska Pravda have criticised the Austrian authorities, saying the men could simply have been summoned. The Association of European Journalists has already demanded an explanation of the operation and the force used. The case is likely to remain a subject of debate in both Austria and Ukraine.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 维也纳司法宫。照片：Hubertl，CC BY-SA 4.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons（AT 50473 Justizpalast Wien, Iustitia - Emanuel Pendl 4388-HDR.jpg）
