A small TV station yesterday filed a judicial protest against both the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader, two regulators and a leading communications company over its right to broadcast.

U Communications Ltd and Fr John Baptist Farrugia are claiming that their rights were breached when the Broadcasting Authority terminated their TV licence for UTV, a station airing socio-religious programmes.

To protect their rights, they filed a judicial protest in the First Hall of the Civil Court against no less than the Broadcasting Authority, its executive head, Go plc, the Malta Communications Authority, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications.

U Communications said that, last December 18, it had received a letter from the Broadcasting Authority informing it that its broadcasting licence would not be renewed. The letter followed another sent last July in which the regulator reminded Fr Farrugia that the licence would expire on September 30, 2008 and that he had to apply for a renewal before September 5.

Fr Farrugia said he complied but was still faced with the second letter effectively telling him that he would have to close down his station.

The company and Fr Farrugia complained yesterday that they had received a ruling which they could not challenge before an independent and impartial tribunal and that this was in violation of their human rights.

Both U Communications and Fr Farrugia claimed that the broadcasting watchdog had informed them that they might be able to broadcast if Go plc or Melita gave them airspace to do so but they considered this to be in violation of the European principles of freedom of broadcasting.

Furthermore, the Broadcasting Authority is not constituted and so neither U Communications nor Fr Farrugia could seek recourse to it. This, they argued, is the result of the "scandalous" situation in the country whereby the political party in government and the opposition have a monopoly situation when it comes to constituting the Broadcasting Authority.

U Communications has not been broadcasting for over three months at great financial loss and, together with Fr Farrugia, it called upon the authorities to make good the damages they had sustained.

Lawyer Emmy Bezzina signed the protest.

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