A Latvian court has actually reversed the 2022 decision to withdraw the broadcast license of the exiled Russian television channel Dozhd, 2 and a half years after authorities in the Baltic country branded the outlet a hazard to national security.Dozhd, understood in English as Television Rain, was amongst a number of Russian media outlets that moved abroad after the Kremlin imposed wartime censorship laws amidst the major intrusion of Ukraine.
It quickly ran out of Riga.Latvias National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP) removed Dozhd of its license in December 2022, implicating it of portraying annexed Crimea as part of Russia and airing content that supposedly supported Russian soldiers.
Dozhd rejected the claims and transferred to the Netherlands, where it secured a Dutch broadcasting license in January 2023.
NEPLP chairman Ivars boli revealed the administrative court ruling Tuesday on X and promised to appeal, writing thatDozhd will not go back to Latvia.Dozhd editor-in-chief Tikhon Dzyadko welcomed the courts choice and expressed hope the judgment would pave the way for the channels go back to cable television networks in Latvia and other Baltic countries.Justice was brought back 2 and a half years later, Dzyadko wrote on Telegram.Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have actually been among the Kremlins loudest critics given that Russia released its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.