Electoral board files sanction proceedings against Catalan public radio

The Central Electoral Board has filed sanction proceedings against the Catalan public radio Catalunya Ràdio. The electoral body argued that two editorials of the radio show don’t comply with the principles of informative neutrality and diversity. The radio program is hosted by one of the most famous Catalan journalists, Mònica Terribas.  

Following the denouncement that the Catalan People’s Party made against the radio show to the Electoral Board of Barcelona, the electoral body stated that Terribas made a "humorous allusion" to previous resolutions of the Electoral Board. The body also argued that she expressed the “implicit idea that there’s state repression against Catalan independentism.”

In addition, the Electoral Board stated that Terribas also criticized the PP, the Socialists and Ciudadanos for not accepting the creation of a commission of investigation on the charges that the Spanish police carried out on the referendum day.

The electoral body is holding the Catalan public radio Catalunya Ràdio responsible for Terribas’ statements, as they consider that they express the radio station’s editorial line.

Electoral body against TV3 coverage

This is not the first controversial decision to be taken by the Electoral Board. Recently, it also denounced the Catalan TV coverage of last week’s demonstration in Brussels, held on December 7 in support of the release of imprisoned pro-independence leaders. The electoral body considered that the coverage was excessive and has urged TV3 to compensate by giving more airtime to the Catalan People’s Party. Yet the public channel did not broadcast the event live, as it usually does with massive demonstrations.

The Catalan Broadcasting Corporation has defended that, as well as covering the event, it also covered acts by other parties that are against independence. However, the electoral board has argued that newscasts of the “concert for the freedom of political prisoners” favoured pro-independence candidacies.

Electoral body states to compensate CUP

The electoral board also asked Spanish TV to compensate the far-left CUP for not showing its party's political broadcast on December 5. The commercial urged “freedom for political prisoners,” referring to the four pro-independence leaders that are currently in jail awaiting trial. Spanish public TV has argued that they didn’t broadcast it because they wasn’t sure whether its content was legal.