Following Latvia, Lithuania decides to revoke Russian TV channel Dozhd’s license
Lithuania bans the broadcasting of the Dozhd TV channel (Photo:Телеканал Дощ/facebook.com)
Lithuanian authorities have decided to ban broadcasting of the Russian TV channel Dozhd the day after Latvia cancelled the channel’s broadcasting license.
The revocation of the independent Russian channel’s license was reported on Dec. 7 by Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT with reference to the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission.
The National Council of Electronic Media of Latvia (NEPLP) decided to cancel Dozhd’s license “taking into consideration state security and public order.”
A scandal broke out around Dozhd earlier, when its host Alexei Korostelev said during a live stream that the channel helps the Russian military, which is currently fighting against Ukraine.
“We hope we have been able to help many (Russian) servicemen with, for example, equipment and basic necessities at the front,” Korostelev said on Dec. 1, as he was hosting Dozhd’s “Here and Now” regular program.
The statement caused a wide public outcry both in Ukraine and in Latvia itself, where the TV channel’s office is located, after which Korostelev was fired.
In Ukraine, the TV channel was banned back in 2017.
The reason was the stories, which, according to the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting, “testify to the non-recognition of state borders” of Ukraine, and also speak of “encroachment on the territorial integrity” of the state.
In particular, the “Here and Now” show and on Dozhd’s website, maps were displayed on which Ukraine’s Crimea, which is under military occupation by Russia, was marked as its territory.
In 2021, the Russian authorities declared Dozhd as a “foreign agent”, after which its head office moved to Latvia.
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