Scandalous Russian independent TV Rain channel has decided to appeal the National Electronic Mass Media Council’s (NEPLP) decision to annul their broadcasting licence in Latvia.
TV Rain editor in chief Tikhon Dzyadko said NEPLP’s decision will be appealed. He said more information will be reported later. TV Rain is already involved in one lawsuit, in which it wants to appeal the penalty applied by NEPLP for not providing subtitles in Latvian language.
The EUR 10 000 fine that was applied on TV Rain by NEPLP for colouring Crimea on the map as part of Russian territory and referring to the Russian army as «our army» was paid this week, as confirmed by NEPLP chairman Ivars Āboliņš.
Last year NEPLP decided to annul TV Rain’s broadcasting licence in Latvia. The decision came into force on the night to the 8th December. This is when TV Rain ceased broadcasts in Latvia entirely. The decision to annul the licence was made due to threats to national security and public order.
After the channel lost its broadcasting licence, the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) decided not to annul employment visas of TV Rain’s employees. After studying the proposal from the State Security Service, Latvia’s previous Minister of the Interior Kristaps Eklons decided to blacklist the former host of TV Rain Aleksejs Korostelevs, who lives and works in Georgia. After his statements about the Russian army, however, he was fired.
TV Rain ceased broadcasts in Russia and left the country entirely after the Russian State Duma passed the law on fake news. On the 18th of July TV Rain started broadcasting again, including shows from studios in Riga.
Also read: NEPLP chairman says Latvia’s information space is dominated by Russian language
TV Rain decides to appeal Mass Media Council’s decision to annul broadcasting licence
