Al-Manar flays EU broadcast ban
Hizb Allah-run Al-Manar television has condemned a decision taken at a meeting of European Union national regulators to ban its broadcasts in Europe.
It said the move, approved in Brussels on Thursday, “represents a flagrant aggression against the freedom of the press and contradicts the simplest principles of the human rights charter and the principles that Europe claims to promote”.
“The decision taken by EU censorship officials to ban Al-Manar TV channel from broadcasting via European satellites is not based on a legal warrant, and violates the simplest legal principles,” the management of the channel said in a statement on Friday.
Regulators from the 25-member European Union agreed on Thursday to coordinate efforts against broadcasts deemed to incite racial hatred in Europe.
Al-Manar’s statement charged that the move was part of “a massive Israeli campaign” and was aimed at “besieging the channel worldwide”.