Roj TV to continue broadcasting, Danish court rules

Hurriyet.com.tr

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A Copenhagen court sentenced Roj TV to pay a 400,000-euro fine for making propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization today but did not order the closure of the pro-Kurdish broadcaster. 

A prosecutor had filed a lawsuit in August, requesting the closure of Roj TV on the grounds that it made propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). 

Copenhagen City Court, however, ruled that the country's laws did not permit the shuttering of Roj TV. Despite this, the broadcaster was given the fine for making propaganda for the illegal group and for receiving financing from a terrorist organization. 

Roj TV does not own studios in Denmark, but broadcasts to 68 countries from Copenhagen via satellite thanks to a license it obtained in 2004.  

Turkish Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek reacted to the Danish court's decision, saying: "This station supports terrorism. Those who advise us are blind to their own ugliness." 

The prosecutor in Denmark said they would appeal the ruling.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.