Local-language broadcasts by the BBC, Voice of America and Radio Liberty will be banned in Azerbaijan in 2009, a top official said Tuesday, highlighting concerns on media freedom in the ex-Soviet state. "We decided not to prolong the BBC, Radio Liberty and the Voice of America broadcasting licence on national frequencies as of January 1," said Nushirvan Magerramli, chairman of the State Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting.
"They may continue broadcasting exclusively through cable networks," he told AFP, while rejecting allegations that the ban of the US and British broadcasters was politically motivated.
He said Azerbaijan had for four years been working to rid its airwaves of foreign broadcasts and that Russian and Turkish television channels, as well as Russian and French radio stations, had already ceased broadcasting. "The decision has nothing to do with politics. Nobody raised concerns when we stopped Russian, Turkish and French television and radio broadcasts in Azerbaijan."
Azerbaijan has come under fire from international rights groups and Western governments for limiting media freedom and jailing local journalists. Critics say foreign-funded news broadcasts are among the only sources of independent information in the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation.