COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Kurdish-language TV station with a Danish broadcasting license has been charged with promoting a group linked to terrorism, Danish prosecutors said Tuesday.
Top prosecutor Joergen Steen Soerensen said that Roj-TV is helping promote the PKK, or the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.
PKK rebels have been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984. Turkey accuses Roj-TV of being a mouthpiece for PKK.
Roj-TV has a Danish broadcasting license but has no studios in Denmark. Calls to the station were not answered, but previously Roj-TV officials have denied terror links.
Roj-TV has "persistently" aired shows with interviews of PKK members and supporters but also about skirmishes between Kurds and Turkish forces, Soerensen said. The station's content was "aimed at promoting and supporting the activities of the terrorist organization PKK" and its political wing, Kongra-Gel, the prosecutor said.
Soerensen said the programs "must be regarded as having the characteristics of propaganda in support of PKK."
The charges came after "extremely comprehensive investigations" of the connections between Roj-TV and PKK, the prosecutor said.
The charge also includes Mesopotamia Broadcast A/S METV, a company behind Roj-TV.
Under Denmark's anti-terror law, a person can face prison up to 10 years for supporting a terrorist organization.
Justice Minister Lars Barfoed welcomed the decision, saying it now was up to a court of law to consider Roj-TV's activities.
No date has been set for the trial, which will take place at Copenhagen City Court.
Prosecutors said they would ask the Danish Radio and Television Board to revoke the station's license, which was issued over six years ago, based on criminal violations.
