TV Rain vows to appeal Latvian broadcast license revocation ‘all the way to the European Court of Human Rights’ after Riga court upholds decision

A Riga court has upheld the Latvian National Electronic Mass Media Council’s (NEPLP) decision to revoke the independent outlet TV Rain’s broadcast license, the channel reported on Thursday.

According to TV Rain’s statement, the ruling was made on July 4. TV Rain said it still plans to appeal the decision “at all levels, including, if necessary, in the European Court of Human Rights.”

The Latvian authorities revoked TV Rain’s license in December 2022, after journalist Alexey Korostelev said on the air that the channel had “managed to help many Russian service members.” Korostelev said later that his words were taken out of context. According to the NEPLP, however, the official reasons for the revocation were the outlet’s use of a map that showed Crimea as part of the Russian Federation and its use of the phrase “our army” to describe the Russian Armed Forces.