Broadcasting of the Russian channel is banned in Lithuania for a year for the incitement of war and ethnic hatred. Providers of TV services were ordered to stop its broadcasting by February 23 but it turned out that Init failed to do so and was still broadcasting one of the version of the Russian TV channel, Rossiya RTR, on March 1.
The RTCL will consider the fine on Wednesday.
Based on Law on the Provision of Information to the Public, the RTCL is allowed to impose on rebroadcasters a fine of up to 3 percent of their general annual revenue for such an offence, or up to 100,000 euros, if it’s difficult or impossible to determine the general revenue.
“It’s the first such case when a rebroadcaster failed to comply with the commission’s decision. I think the commission will consider the issue and will make use of all conditions provided for by the law regarding the fine, and we’ll be principled and will react to avoid such offences in the future”, RTCL chairman Edmundas Vaitiekunas told BNS Lithuania.
The Russian TV channel has already said it would appeal against a fine, if the RTCL imposed one.
RTR Planeta has already been fined twice – in 2015 and 2016 – for the incitement of war and hatred.