(RSF/IFEX) – On 24 July 2002, RSF protested the non-renewal of two popular local radio stations’ licences by the Polish state broadcasting authority (Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji, KRRiT) on 17 July. The organisation denounced the move as an arbitrary decision. “We are astonished that this decision has been made without warning, without any proper […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 24 July 2002, RSF protested the non-renewal of two popular local radio stations’ licences by the Polish state broadcasting authority (Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji, KRRiT) on 17 July. The organisation denounced the move as an arbitrary decision.
“We are astonished that this decision has been made without warning, without any proper explanation, and without any opportunity for an appeal,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to KRRiT President Juliusz Braun. “This means the stations – Radio Blue in Kracow and Twoje Radio in the southwestern town of Walbrzych – will have to shut down. If the decision is confirmed, it will show that the KRRiT has excessive and arbitrary powers and does not conform to European Union standards of press freedom,” the secretary-general noted. “We ask you to reverse this measure and see to it that the KRRiT does not exceed the powers normally given to a broadcasting regulatory authority in a democratic country,” Ménard said.
Radio Blue, which has been broadcasting for seven years, is the most popular station in Krakow (population 710,000) and the surrounding region. The KRRiT said it was assigning its frequency to another station, ESKA, which has not yet extended its broadcasts to Krakow.
Twoje Radio (“Your Radio”) is a very popular station in the mining town of Walbrzych (population 140,000). Listeners have organised demonstrations and circulated petitions to protest the KRRiT decision.
The KRRiT was set up in 1992 and is run by nine “wise men”. Four are chosen by the Chamber of Deputies, two by the Senate and three by the country’s president. They assign broadcasting licences for a maximum of seven years, after which an application for renewal must be made, which Radio Blue said it did within the deadline. The KRRiT’s decisions are final.
