(AMARC/IFEX) – The following is an abridged version of a 23 May 2005 AMARC alert: AMARC is concerned about the intimidating act carried out on 17 May 2005 by officials from the National Communications Commission (CNC), who attempted to enter FM De La Azotea radio station’s transmission facility in Mar del Plata without a search […]
(AMARC/IFEX) – The following is an abridged version of a 23 May 2005 AMARC alert:
AMARC is concerned about the intimidating act carried out on 17 May 2005 by officials from the National Communications Commission (CNC), who attempted to enter FM De La Azotea radio station’s transmission facility in Mar del Plata without a search warrant or prior notice.
During the incident, the officials told the journalists to stop broadcasting, alleging that the station’s radio signal was interfering with that of the Brigadier de la Colina airport.
However, station managers report that the airport authorities whom they consulted assured them that they had never made a complaint of that nature, and moreover, that there had not been signal interference from any media in recent months.
Station managers consider this incident an act of intimidation motivated by the fact that FM De La Azotea, the only non-profit community radio station in the area, has recently expanded its broadcast coverage area to include all of Mar del Plata.
AMARC has been seeking reforms to the Radio Broadcasting Law, claiming that the legislation undermines freedom of expression and information by granting exclusive air rights to commercial and state-owned enterprises, to the exclusion of non-profit organisations. This situation has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and violates Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) freedom of expression principles.
