The Administrative Court has provided the red-shirt TV station with a legal immunity allowing the station to continue broadcasting after the station’s licence was recently revoked for breaching the junta’s announcements.
On Wednesday, 6 July 2016, the Supreme Administrative Court granted Peace TV, the TV station run by red-shirt co-leaders, legal protection after the Communication Authority of Thailand (CAT) made the decision, two days prior, to revoke the broadcasting licence of the station for 30 days for breaching the junta’s announcements on media censorship, Manager Online reported.
According to Manager Online, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the legal immunity which the Central Administrative Court provided to Peace TV on 26 May 2016 is still valid. Therefore, if the CAT want to revoke the station’s broadcasting licence, the CAT must request to the Court to revoke the legal immunity first.
Weng Tojirakarn, a key leader of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), aka the red-shirt movement, and a newsreader of Peace TV who participated in the hearing, told media that although the CAT made a decision to revoke the licence, an official order has not been yet issued. The Court, therefore, allowed Peace TV to be on air as usual.
“Peace TV will be on air as usual. If the CAT still sees that Peace TV really broke the law, they have to collect evidence and file a petition to the Court. After that, if the Court finds us guilty, we will accept the decision,” Manager Online quoted Weng as saying.
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