The suspension of the ban on ANS TV means local retransmission of the BBC, Radio Free Europe and Voice of America on its FM frequency, 101.7 FM. But ANS TV could be forced off the air again in February if the government reassigns its frequencies. (15-DEC-06)
Written by Shahla Ismailova/HRH Baku on the basis of information received from Turan IA, DayAZ IA, Institute for Reporter Freedom and Safety.
The decision, adopted by National TV and Radio Council (NTRC) restored the possibility for radio stations “Radio Liberty” and “Voice of America” to transmit their programs on ultra-short wave 101.7.FM from the 1-st of January 2007.
Foreign channels
Previously, “Radio Liberty” and “Voice of America” broadcast their programming on the FM frequencies of ANS and Anten radio station. BBC radio, which also used ANS frequency, will transfer to 103.3.FM. During the NTRC session, the council also extended the license of musical station “Europe Plus Baku” for 6 years. The NTRC decided to stop broadcasting of the Turkish channel Kanal D on January 3 2007; to stop transmission of the Turkish channel STV and Russian channels RTR and ORT on July 01, 2007.
Local channels
As to the local TV channels, the extension of the license of Zagatala regional TV channel “Aygun TV” was postponed, due to shortcomings in documents submitted by the TV channel. The regional TV channel DM-TRV in the Balakan region, created in 1991, still cannot receive a frequency. The founder of the TV channel Mustafa Dibirov, appealed to the European Court for Human Rights against the Azerbaijani government due to suppression of freedom of speech. His appeal to the European Court is based on 3 articles 34, 45 and 47 of the European Convention for Human Rights.
