(ANSA-AFP) - BUDAPEST, FEB 9 - Hungary's leading independent
radio station Klubradio said Tuesday it had lost an appeal to
keep its licence after the media regulator said it had infringed
rules, raising new press freedom concerns in the EU member
state. "The decision, although expected, was shameful and
cowardly. We will appeal at the Supreme Court," Andras Arato,
head of Klubradio, told AFP. The station, whose news and talk
content is often critical of the Hungarian government, will
continue broadcasting online from Monday, said Arato. Last
September the media regulator NMHH said Klubradio, which
broadcasts mainly in Budapest, had "repeatedly infringed" rules
by twice submitting documents late. The regulator refused to
extend the station's seven-year operating licence, which expires
on February 14. Klubradio had asked the Metropolitan Court in
Budapest to force NMHH to issue a temporary broadcasting
licence, but said on Tuesday that its appeal had been turned
down. Klubradio and two other stations have also applied for the
same frequency which was put up for tender by NMHH, but a
decision is not expected for several months. Tuesday's decision
stokes new alarm about political pressure from Prime Minister
Viktor Orban's right-wing government on Hungarian independent
media. (ANSA-AFP).
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