Lebanese TV station could remain off air for a month
NTV, the Lebanese satellite TV station shut down by the Prime Minister two days ago, could remain closed for a month according to the Daily Star. The Bar Association has condemned the action, saying the constitution has been breached; but the law allows the Cabinet to close down the station for up to a month.
After its weekly meeting Friday, the Beirut Bar Association issued a statement denouncing the measures and the manner in which they were conducted as “a breach of the Constitution, the audio-visual law and the international acts that have been ratified by Lebanon.” The statement said that the decision, made following a meeting between Hariri, Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud and Information Minister Ghazi Aridi, undermined the authority of the Cabinet and “disregarded the judiciary because it did not follow the legal procedures required for such a case.” The law pertaining to satellite transmission explicitly gives the Cabinet and not the prime minister the right to cut a satellite link. The law says that a decision from the information minister or a joint one by the information and foreign ministers is required to cut a satellite feed, which may be cut for a maximum period of one month. The bar association statement also chastised what it dubbed “prior censorship,” prosecuting intentions instead of actions, referring to the fact that the authorities had not seen the censored program. – Daily Star, Authorities slammed for muzzling station.