The editor in chief of the pro-opposition news website Strana.ua, Ihor Huzhva, has said on Facebook he has been granted asylum in Austria. In Ukraine, he is suspected of extortion.
“Today I have been notified that the authorities of the Austrian republic have approved my application and granted me asylum! I want to say a huge thank you to all those who helped me along the way. Dozens of people in Ukraine, other countries and here, in Austria, came to help me. Many of this did so to my great surprise. I am very thankful to all of you! Certainly, I am very thankful to the authorities of the Austrian republic for issuing this decision,” he said.
Huzhva was detained in Kyiv on 22 June 2017 on suspicion of extorting a bribe of 10,000 dollars for not publishing information that would compromise MP Dmytro Linko. He went to Vienna on 31 January 2018 and requested political asylum. On 5 February, a Ukrainian court issued an arrest warrant for him and declared him wanted.