The High Court judge lifted the injunction which was restraining the
Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) from revoking its
licence. Macra revoked the licencefor what they called breach of
licence provisions forcing the station off air.
Lawyer for the station Ralph Kasambara argued against the decision by
the judge saying the reasons for revocation are contestable and that
the case is the courts.
He argued that he does not see the reason why the station should be
prevented from operating when judicial review of the case might take
time to complete.
Kasambara also commented on the loss that will be incurred during the
time that the station will be off air saying such costs will keep on
piling.      Â
Counsel for MACRA insisted that the high court was right to discharge
the injunction saying the regulator has powers to revoke the licence
and that any queries can be entertained later.Â
"Since there is new evidence tendered before me from Joy radio, I will
give my determination any day before next week expires," Justice
Singini said.
The judges close for a holiday.
Hundreds of people claiming to be Joy radio listeners yesterday were
prevented from demonstrating yesterday for what the police said was
failure to follow procedures on the part of organizers.
The protesters said they wanted to present a petition to the district
commissioner of Blantyre on what they said infringement on the rights
freedom of speech.Â
Some of the organizers of the demonstrations scheduled told the Nyasa
Times that the move aims at alerting Malawians and the international
community that the closure of Joy radio is politically-motivated.
The demonstrations were also scheduled for Mulanje, Zomba, Mangochi and Lilongwe.
Government officials, notably information minister Patricia Kaliati,
have been calling for the closure of Joy Radio, accusing it of being
critical of the president and his administration.
Inside sources at Macra said its board is under massive pressure from
some cabinet ministers to have Joy Radio to be permanently taken off
air for the smooth campaigning of the DPP.Â
Joy Radio was granted a licence by Macra to conduct broadcasting
services on April 1, 2002. The battle to have the station closed began
when it was known that Dr Bakili Muluzi will contest as a presidential
candidate for the United Democratic Front and the parties in alliance.
On March 25, 2007 the radio was attacked by unidentified persons for broadcasting live a meeting addressed by Muluzi.Â
On July 13, 2007 the high court nullified composition of Macra board
after a successful application by Joy Radio that the board was illegal
and flouted provisions of the Communications Act.Â
In a related development, on October 29, 2007 Macra uprooted
transmission equipment for Joy TV, which would have been a second
television station after state-controlled TVM, claiming that the
station did not have appropriate licence because the law does not allow
dual ownership of both radio and TV.
On October 17, 2008 Joy Radio stopped broadcasting after Macra revoked
its licence, claiming the station had violated provisions of the
Communications Act by transferring its ownership to politicians, Claims
Joy Radio management described as baseless.
However, Joy Radio was back on air on October 19 after its lawyers obtained an injunction.Â
On 20 November, the same High Court lifted the injunction, paving way for Macra to close down the station again.
Nyasa Times
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