Kurdish Roj TV Received Fine but Remains on Air
The Copenhagen City Court in Denmark ruled that there was no need to stop broadcasts of the Kurdish satellite channel Roj TV. A trial was pending against the television channel on the grounds of its alleged connection to the outlawed armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Roj TV stood accused of having spread propaganda for the PKK. At the 29th hearing of the case, the court dismissed the request to close down the television channel and did not annul its license. The court decreed for a monetary fine of 65,000 Danish kroner (DKK) (€ 8,700) by reason of a violation of the Danish anti-terror law by Roj TV and the Mesopotamia Broadcasting Company.
The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) released a written statement related to the decision. BDP Co-Chair Filiz Koçali stated on behalf of her party, "Many people in police custody were asked the question 'why did you speak on Roj TV', which was taken as the reason for many arrests in Turkey. After a long period of investigation and trial, Roj TV is not going to be closed down. We hope that this will be an example for Turkey".
What happened?
Roj TV has been broadcasting via satellite from Copenhagen since 1 March 2004. On 31 August 2010, it was decided to open a trial against the television channel related to the "anti-terror law" upon the request of Copenhagen Chief Prosecutor Jörgen Steen Sörensen.
The prosecutor had alleged that Roj TV "made propaganda for the PKK and was financed by the organization". Sörensen had demanded a 10 million monetary fine for the Mesopotamia Publishing Company and Roj TV Inc. and the closure of Roj TV.
Turkey had tried to intervene at the Danish authorities for the closure of Roj TV ever since the channel was established. (NV)