No Supreme Court appeal for Roj TV

Kurdish TV station will not be able to appeal its terror conviction, but the court agrees to consider whether to overturn decision revoke its broadcast licence

The Supreme Court has turned down a request by Roj TV to hear an appeal of its 2012 conviction for supporting Kurdish terror organisation PKK.

The Kurdish TV station has been broadcasting out of Denmark since 2004 and in 2012 was convicted of supporting terrorism by the Copenhagen City Court.

In July Roj TV lost its appeal in the Eastern High Court in a decision that also saw the station’s fine doubled, to ten million kroner, and its broadcast licence revoked.

READ MORE: Roj TV fined, loses broadcast rights

Despite yesterday’s decision, Roj TV’s, lawyer Bjørn Elmquist, said the bankrupt TV station would still pursue its legal options.

“The court said that Roj TV behaved like a mouthpiece for a terrorist group and that they were not simply using their right to free speech,” Elmquist told Politiken newspaper. “That is a very narrow interpretation but it won’t be challenged in the Supreme Court. The next option is to bring the case before the European Court of Human Rights.”

READ MORE: Roj TV declares bankruptcy

Roj TV will be allowed to challenge the court’s decision to revoke the broadcast licence from its two parent companies, Roj TV A/S and Mesopotamia Broadcast A/S.

The appeal is allowed due to uncertainty over the extent to which anti-terrorism legislation applies to businesses and corporations.

“[The law] allows people to have their broadcast rights withdrawn, not legal entities,” Elmquist said.

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