Peru maintains ban on Amazonian radio station silenced since June

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Newswatch

Peru maintains ban on Amazonian radio station silenced since June
Date: September 22, 2009



Riot police officers arrest a man who was
protesting in favor of Amazon Indians in Lima,
Thursday, June 11, 2009. Radio La Voz de Bagua
has been in the government’s sights since the
clashes that shook the Amazon region at the
start of June.

Peru's Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) has maintained its arbitrary ban on Radio La Voz de Bagua, a station based in the country's northern Amazonas region, refusing on September 15 to allow it to resume broadcasting. The station has been stripped of its licence since June 6.

Radio La Voz de Bagua was accused of inciting violence in June during an outbreak of protests and rioting by local indigenous groups and clashes with the security forces. Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) believes the charges are unfounded.

According to the Institute for Press and Society (IPYS), a Peruvian NGO, the radio station has received three more communications from the ministry since July – two demands for the payment of fines for broadcasting violations in 2005 and 2007 and a legal notice concerning an irregularity in March of this year.

“No-body is fooled by the reasons advanced by the government for silencing La Voz de Bagua Grande. This comes after recent clashes in the Amazonian region between government forces and the indigenous population,” RSF had said earlier.


Read more: http://www.newswatch.in/newsblog/4714

[Igel]

1. Broadcasting violations and irregularities.

Sounds oddly familiar.

But I'm sure that nobody's fooled by the reasons advanced by government.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Quite different from Venezuela, in every sense. n/t

[Mudoria]

3. Not really