The Riga District Administrative Court upheld the decision of the Latvian National Electronic Media Council (NEPLP) to revoke Rain (Dozhd) TV channel’s broadcasting license. According to the channel itself, the decision was made on July 4.
“We respect the laws of Latvia and the Latvian court, but we cannot agree with its position. The December decision of NEPLP to revoke Rain’s license was unfair and disproportionate, and the court’s ruling to dismiss our complaint is, in our opinion, erroneous: Rain TV channel is not a “threat to national security”, which it proves by its daily work for 13 years”, Rain said.
The channel noted that it intends to appeal the decision “in all instances – including the European Court of Human Rights, if necessary”.
The reason for the license revocation were three administrative cases against the channel. The cases were initiated because of the map with Crimea as part of the Russian Federation, the phrase “our army” in reference to Russian troops, and the words of anchor Alexei Korostelyov that Rain’s broadcasts help Russians “with equipment at the front”. Korostelyov was fired from the TV channel.
In January, Rain received a European broadcasting permit in the Netherlands.
