Denmark charges Kurdish TV for promoting PKK
(COPENHAGEN) - Prosecutors said Tuesday they have charged Roj TV, a Copenhagen-based Kurdish TV network, with supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by the European Union.
In a statement, chief prosecutor Lise-Lotte Nilas said the decision was taken following an investigation into Roj TV's programming that began in 2005.
"We carefully examined a series of programmes on Roj TV, and our evaluation is that they have a character of propaganda for the PKK, which is a terrorist organisation," she said.
Danish Justice Minister Lars Barfoed supported the prosecutor's decision, saying in a statement: "As a society, we have to do everything in our power to combat terrorism and what supports it."
Roj TV started broadcasting via satellite in 2004 towards 68 countries.
Turkey has appealed with Denmark to shut it down, as has the United States.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in the Kurdish-majority southeast of Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed 45,000 lives.
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