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Evangelical radio station closed down by authorities
MADRID, December 06, 2006 (FEREDE/ACPress.net)
On November 2nd, the assets of evangelical radio station, 'Radio Encuentro', were frozen. The station lacks a licence although a final court verdict has not yet been handed down, and the radio is appealing against the fine of 111,000 euros.
The radio station's directors say this is merely one more instance of persecution which they have suffered since they started broadcasting in Madrid in 2001. They say the situation is clearly discriminatory, and cite the example of 'Radio María', a station which has increased its broadcasting points from 1 to 117 all over Spain, often without the requisite permission, but tolerated by the authorities. Meanwhile, Radio Encuentro had to stop broadcasting over the normal airwaves when the Evangelical Church where they were based was threatened with a multi-million euro fine. They now limit themselves to Internet broadcasting, but even this is being pursued by the authorities.
The embargo follows the fine, which the station has appealed against, and is based on allegations that Radio Encuentro interferes with the State station, Radio 5, in the Aguacate district of the Spanish capital, which is where Encuentro have their aerial. However, Radio Encuentro say that as soon as they were told of the interference, they changed the frequency on which they broadcast, and the interference disappeared immediately. The authorities, though, have not taken this into consideration.
Radio Encuentro also complains that the authorities do not deal with all broadcasters in the same way, but insist on much tougher conditions for evangelical stations and do not issue licences to them, whereas those already broadcasting are not investigated nearly as thoroughly, to see if they are still meeting the criteria initially established.
Radio Encuentro began life with the blessing of Madrid Evangelical Council as a means of expressing evangelical thought, values, spirituality and the cultural identity of Spanish Protestantism. Yet discrimination against evangelical broadcasters persists, and all attempts at obtaining licences since the onset of democracy have so far failed. The Federation of Evangelical Organisations has asked for an interview with the Secretary of State for Communications, Francisco Ros, but has not yet received a reply.
Source: FEREDE Editing: ACPress.net
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