Tag: bishop Rolando José Álvarez

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NIGERIA: STOP THE CLOSURE OF 53 RADIO AND TV CHANNELS

Nigeria suspends 53 TV and radio channels causing an outcry in the media world
The Nigerian airwaves regulator claimed a total of six million euros from the broadcasters
Source

Closing inconvenient broadcasters by claiming that their licence has expired is a typical vice of authoritarian regimes. Which, in the most perfidious guises, do not respond to broadcasters or do not issue a receipt even if the publisher delivers the application in person (this happened in Nicaragua to the bishop Rolando José Álvarez, we reported on it here). But in a democratic state, gagging stations is a little more difficult. As the recent case of Nigeria shows: last week, the chairman of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) had given 53 radio and television stations 24 hours to pay the fee or else be suspended from broadcasting.

Appeal won

The grounds for the ruling state that revoking the licences of 53 broadcasters and shutting down their operations because they have not renewed their licences would seriously affect the rights of millions of Nigerians

Revoking the licences of 53 broadcasters and shutting down their operations would seriously affect the rights of millions of Nigerians
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An appeal was immediately lodged against the article in the regulation that NBC wanted to use to revoke the licences (claiming that it is unconstitutional and illegal, as it violates freedom of expression), and also against President Muhammadu Buhari. In defence of the broadcasters, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a non-governmental organisation that protects economic and social rights in Nigeria, and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have come to the defence. Justice was swift: on 29 August, Judge Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos issued an interim order preventing the revocation of the licences and adjourned the case until 8 September 2022.

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NICARAGUA: BLACK AUGUST FOR RADIO AND TV STATIONS

The headquarters of Radio Dario, daubed with graffiti by pro-government Sandinista groups
The headquarters of Radio Dario, daubed with graffiti by pro-government Sandinista groups
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The closure, on 1 August 2022, of eight Catholic radio stations linked to Bishop Rolando José Álvarez of the diocese of Matagalpa (we reported on it here) was only the beginning. Telcor, the Nicaraguan communications regulator, deactivated other radio and television channels, again on the grounds that they were no longer authorised, bringing the number of closures to 17. Last in order, Radio Dario (89.3 in León), considered one of the few voices critical of Ortega, was deactivated on 12 August. For 73 years, it was the oldest Nicaraguan radio station and had managed to continue operations despite an arson attack in 2018, during anti-government protests, that had destroyed the studios.

The list of closures grows longer

The journalist and director of the station, Carlos José Suárez Jaime, recorded a video to apologise to the listeners for not being able to greet them on video before the broadcast closed
The journalist and director of the station, Carlos José Suárez Jaime, recorded a video to apologise to the listeners for not being able to greet them on video before the broadcast closed. NGTV3 was the first independent channel in New Guinea, and also the most watched
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Radio La Guarachera, operating on 96.5 in Chinandega, and Radio Sky, on 102.9 in León, both owned by exiled journalist Anibal Toruño, went off the air. And then Radio San Carlos 94.9, owned by the exiled former liberal mayor of the municipality of San Carlos, Silvio Linarte. The same fate befell Radio Vos, a community radio station that promotes and defends women’s rights and had followed events: it had been broadcasting for 18 years on 101.7, in Matagalpa. Finally, Radio Stereo Sol, on 102.5 from Santa Maria de Pantasma, has been on air for 16 years. Also, there are two television channels from Nueva Guinea: Canal NGTV3, owned by journalist Carlos José Suárez Jaime, and Canal RB3, owned by Daniel Mendoza, who inaugurated it 24 years ago.

Less and less opposition

An article in the daily newspaper La Prensa on the case of Bishop Rolando José Álvarez
An article in the daily newspaper La Prensa on the case of Bishop Rolando José Álvarez. The newspaper, after the confiscation of its headquarters a year ago, continues to go online thanks to journalists in exile
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According to the Nicaraguan movement of independent journalists and communicators (PCIN), the Ortega government has exiled more than 120 journalists, including the editorial staff of the daily newspaper La Prensa, making criticism of the government disappear from the written press, television and radio programmes. An estimated 30 stations have been closed since 2014, more than half in August 2022 alone.

Consequences also for the bishop Rolando José Álvarez: because he had refused to have the stations closed down, he was forced to remain locked in the curia for 16 days, controlled by the national police, who eventually placed him under arrest.

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