The radio frequencies tender of last autumn held by media watchdog the National Radio and Television Board (ORTT) was unlawful, the Municipal Court ruled on Tuesday. The verdict is open to appeal.
Class FM and Neo FM were granted national commercial radio broadcasting frequencies that had previously been held by Danubius and Sláger, amid widespread suspicions that the Socialist Party and Fidesz had secretly agreed to split the licences.
However the Court ruled that it did not have the jurisdiction to cancel the contracts because ORTT is a public administrative organisation.
Fidesz ORTT delegate Annamária Szalai said in her view “the court had overall rejected Danubius’s lawsuit”. Meanwhile Socialist ORTT delegate Péter Gyuricza said the next move will be decided on after the ruling has been studied.
Democratic Forum chairwoman Ibolya Dávid said ORTT is now trapped because the Court ruled that “party-backed stations” were awarded their tenders illegally.
The whole thing stinks on all sides, representative of the rot and nonsense that happens here in Hungary daily.
Actually, I might have come down on the side and been more sympathetic to Slager radio, had I not seen an advert for their documentary film about the event. Film crew on-tap for this surprise? Pull the other one. They knew all about it and they are just making political hay.
And as for a non-binding ruling, sounds as useful as a chocolate tea-pot from where I’m sitting.
@JD: This is only a first level hearing and is moving forward to the next stage while all parties ‘digest the logic of the decision’ as one of the losing parties put it. Think the next stage is January 19th.
Also Kónya Imre, who is the delegated lawyer for Sláger Rádió, the other station that illegally lost its license, was present at the hearing. He was the Ministry of Interior as part of MDF between 1990-1993. Wait for their move.
@Vándorló
“This is only a first level hearing and is moving forward to the next stage while all parties ‘digest the logic of the decision’ as one of the losing parties put it.”
Endless ramblings and pontification in-between meetings of endless ramblings and pontification. Yep that sounds the Hungarian way. Or is this just a typical judicial system?
Still, sounds like there is plenty of fun to be had for those playing politics.
The bottom line here is that there is no way the “winners” will lose their frequencies – it’s just not going to happen, no matter what the courts say. Instead, the most likely outcome of additional court victories for the losers is that they end up with some kind of monetary settlement from the Hungarian state. Which of course is the most sickening outcome of all, because it means that the Hungarian/EU taxpayer will be doubly on the hook for this mess, if you consider that the amount the state receives from the new license holders is likely to be much less than what the state would have gotten had the two losers actually prevailed. A classic heist by a political establishment that is nothing more or less than a bunch of crime bosses. Disgusting.
@Erik: I agree on the likely long-term outcome. And let’s not forget this is all to generate money that goes directly into MSZP and Fidesz coffers so that they can afford to run an unconstitutionally and illegal expensive election campaign, spending 10 or more times the agreed limit.
The joke is then having Bajnai set up another committee to clean up government which is rejected by Solyom. I don’t know which is the worst part of the joke, Bajnai pretending to clean up government or Solyom not wanting to pretend.
Maybe they can all go down to BalatonŐszöd and discuss it in the ‘government resort’, just to rub salt into the weeping wombs. Talpra magyar, for f**ks sake talpra.
@V-lo: You know, everyone always acts on the assumption that the radio swindle was done for party financing reasons, but why shouldn’t we just assume it’s about putting money directly into peoples’ pockets? Look at it this way: Unless there were big up-front payments made by the concession winners to the parties, it is unlikely that these ‘investments’ will pay divideds to the politicos in advance of the election, which is only a few months after the new stations are up and running…
This is just more convoluted corruption and, in the end, everyone will win except the hapless Hungarians.
Magyarok will pick up the bill for the ‘pay-offs” to Slager, and Danubius, because as Erik so rightly points out: they will not get a second bite at the cherry.
Unless someone can come up with a solution to
ending the reign of useless and inefficient politicians and widespread corruption very soon -
we will sink even further into social and economic obscurity.