Russians Shut Down Opposition Radio

The Russian authorities have shut down the radio broadcast of “Black or White” (“Zwart of Wit”) of Jurgen Verstrepen a MP for the Belgian opposition party Vlaams Belang (English version site). He was broadcasting via the short wave from Krasnodar in Russia. In the newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen (“Antwerp Gazette”) Verstrepen said there had been complaints about his radio show, but it remains unclear who filed the complaints and what is the exact contents of those complaints. Verstrepen claims that the Belgian government is behind it. Apparently the Russian authorities even asked for translations in English (the radio show is in Dutch) and are currently investigating the contents of his weekly programme. Germany and the UK already prevented that Verstrepen would broadcast his radio show from their territory. In the past, before he was elected as a MP, Jurgen Verstrepen used to present “Black or White” a political talk show, via a television channel broadcasted in Belgium. He later declared he and the television channel were forced to stop under political pressure. He continues to podcast his radio show via his blog. One can, for various reasons, like or dislike his radio, opinions, or even his blog, but this certainly is a matter to be followed closely from a free speech and media law point of view. According to the Flemish media legislation private radio stations are not allowed to broadcast propaganda about (political) elections and must be independent from a political party.