NIT still obliged to halt broadcasting for five days

The Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) rejected NIT’s application to annul the penalty to stop broadcasting for a period of five days imposed on it by the vote of six members, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Council’s decision came into force on July 1, after it was published in the Official Gazette, but the television channel continued broadcasting. The representative of NIT avoided saying why the channel did not comply. He stated he was empowered to speak only about the application submitted to the BCC. The Council’s chairman Marian Pocaznoi has told Info-Prim Neo that if NIT does not obey the decision and does not halt broadcasting for five days, the BCC will gradually impose other penalties on the channel, which will be rather harsh. NIT was penalized for covering the campaign preceding the local elections in a biased way and for deviations from the Broadcasting Code and the regulations of the Central Election Commission. Last November, the BCC punished the channel for not ensuring a plurality of opinions and banned it from broadcasting commercial advertisements for three days.