Demark could close loophole on ROJ TV

COPENHAGEN / VILNIUS

Kurds living in Denmark demonstrate in front of the court building in Copenhagen Jan 10. AP photo

Two Danish ministers have vowed to close the legal loophole that prevented the closure of ROJ TV, which was recently fined by a court for distributing propaganda on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). 

Denmark’s Radio and Television Board will take steps to cancel ROJ TV’s license, Danish Justice Minister Morten Bodskov and Culture Minister Uffe Elbaek said in a joint statement yesterday.

The board will take into account this week’s court decision, which did not order ROJ TV’s closure but did posit the link between the channel and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the ministers said. 

“The Radio and Television Board said it will consider canceling the broadcasting license of ROJ TV in line with this decision,” they said. 

“If there is any gap in the law, it will be closed. As ministers of justice and culture, we will definitely make a law that gives courts the right to intervene into broadcastings that support terror,” said the statement, adding that Copenhagen was against all forms of terrorism regardless of its reasons and origin.

A Copenhagen court sentenced ROJ TV to pay a 400,000-euro fine for making propaganda on behalf of the PKK on Jan. 10 but did not order its closure.

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