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Richard Medhurst says officials told him he is suspected of being a member of Hamas – an allegation he strongly denies
Independent British journalist Richard Medhurst, known for his pro-Palestinian stance, has said he was briefly detained by Austrian authorities on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization. He was similarly apprehended by UK police in August.
The Austrian-based Medhurst posted a video on his X account on Friday, claiming he had been “lured into a trap” when the local authorities summoned him for an interview last week. On arrival, officials informed him that they were considering revoking his residency because of his reporting on Gaza and Lebanon.
The British national was then “ambushed by a group of plainclothes agents,” who said “they were the Austrian equivalent of MI5 or the FBI,” Medhurst claimed. He was subsequently detained and served a search warrant, with officials saying he was suspected of being a member of Hamas, as well as “disseminating propaganda [and] encouraging terrorism,” according to the video.
The authorities allegedly searched his apartment and studio, impounding all his electronic devices.
I was detained this week by the Austrian police and intelligence services.
They raided my house, office, and took all my devices.
They are accusing me of being a member of Hamas and threatened me with 10 years in prison.
Journalism is not a crime. pic.twitter.com/gztm4bmLuY
“They’re my journalistic tools. I have been left with literally nothing,” Medhurst stated.
He was eventually finger-printed and photographed, and had a sample of his DNA collected before he was released “after six-seven hours,” the reporter recalled in his video.
Medhurst went on to allege that his run-in with Austrian authorities could be linked to his detention at London’s Heathrow Airport on August 15. On that occasion, he was held at a police station for over 24 hours on charges of “expressing an opinion or a belief that is supportive of a proscribed organization” under Section 12 of the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000.
“Strangely enough, last week, the police in England again extended this investigation and then suddenly this happens in Vienna. I don’t think that is mere coincidence,” Medhurst said in his latest video.
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He categorically denied “all of these accusations by the British and Austrian governments,” insisting: “I’m not a terrorist, I’m a journalist and they bloody well know it.”
His described the British and Austrian authorities’ actions as “disproportionate state violence” and an attack on free speech.
“I could face up to 14 years in prison in the UK, plus another two to five years if I don’t give them the passwords to my phones, and maybe another ten years in prison in Austria,” Medhurst concluded.
In September, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and UK’s National Union of Journalists (NUJ) condemned Medhurst’s detention in the UK as an attempt to “stifle press freedom.”
English (US)