Hungarian radio silences protest against media law

Sandor Jaszberenyi had been invited to the morning programme '180 minutes' on national Kossuth Radio to speak about a different topic.

"But before he could speak, he said he wanted to hold a minute of silence to protest the restrictions on freedom of the press and express his solidarity towards two other journalists who were suspended for doing the same," 168 ora reported in its online edition.

Following a short dispute with the presenter, the programme was interrupted, only to return without its invited guest, it said.

"As a democrat, I thought it was my duty to use every possible forum to defend press freedoms," Jaszberenyi told the weekly.

Suspension for silence

The incident occurred just a week after presenter Attila Mong and his editor were suspended for holding a minute of silence on the same radio show, also to protest the media law.

Hungary's Fidesz-led government has tightened curbs on the media since coming to power earlier this year, drawing strong criticism from press watchdogs, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the European Parliament, especially as Hungary prepares to take over the rotating EU presidency on 1 January 2011.

Under the new law, members of Premier Viktor Orban's Fidesz party have been given key regulatory roles in the media, while press freedoms have been severely restricted, leading to several protests by journalists.

Two weeks ago, a well-known political expert, Peter Tolgyessy, scrapped his radio show on Radio Kossuth after he was assigned a co-presenter close to Fidesz.

This week, Amnesty International warned of the potential for "political interference in the editorial policies of media outlets."

"There is a real concern that this new law will result in censorship and self-censorship," it said.

Source: AFP