Denmark orders PKK-linked Kurdish TV channel to stop broadcasting

A Kurdish satellite broadcaster in Denmark has been ordered to cease broadcasting for two months, the Danish TV and radio board ruled Wednesday, DPA reported.

The decision came in the wake of a Copenhagen court ruling, which the station had not obeyed, to provide recordings of all its programmes, after firms linked to the broadcaster were fined for supporting the Kurdish separatist PKK group.

The eight-member panel said that Mesopotamia Broadcast that operated Roj TV had "not fulfilled" a requirement to provide recordings of all its programmes.

"Therefore the board has not had a real opportunity to assess the (station's) complete programming"," chairman Christian Scherfig said.

Mesopotamia Broadcast was ordered to stop broadcasting on its four registered channels: Roj TV, the news channel NUCE TV, the music video channel MMC, and METV. Roj TV is no longer on the air, while METV has not broadcast since 2004.

A Copenghagen court in January ordered two firms linked to Roj TV to pay 5.2 million kroner (893,000 dollars) in fines for supporting terror.

The court said the channel had broadcast propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and was financed by the PKK, which has been labelled a terrorist organization by the European Union and United States.

The Turkish government has long called for the closure of Roj TV.

Danish authorities have rejected earlier calls to shut down the broadcaster, saying they had not been able to establish that it had supported or incited violence.