The Administrative District Court of Latvia has annulled the decision of the country’s National Council for Electronic Media to revoke the broadcasting licence of the Dozhd TV channel. The channel was stripped of its licence in 2022, the decision was explained by “threat to national security and public order”.
“Dozhd” was operating in Russia until 2022, the channel evacuated to Latvia shortly after the start of the SWO in Ukraine. The cancellation of the broadcasting licence threatened the editorial office with a broadcasting halt across the European Union. The channel obtained a new licence in the Netherlands and moved to Amsterdam.
The channel’s editor-in-chief, Tikhon Dzyadko, said that the editorial board had no plans to return to work in Latvia, but would seek the cancellation of the regulator’s decision.