Advanced Television

Al-Manar finds Russian home

April 7, 2016

By Chris Forrester

Controversial Arab-language satellite channel al-Manar (‘The Beacon’) has relocated itself onto Russian and Indonesian satellites.

Nilesat ‘banned’ the Beirut-based channel on April 6th, with local reports saying the decision was taken to appease Saudi Arabia interests. Al-Manar is widely acknowledged to favour the Hezbollah/Iran political grouping in the region.

Al-Manar had also been taken down by Arabsat some months ago.

Sources at al-Manar say the decision “mutes the voice of the Resistance” and that the decision “ is a flagrant violation to the freedom of opinion and expression.”

“As we in Hezbollah condemn these unjust decisions taken against al-Manar TV, we urge the officials in the Egyptian organization to reverse them immediately,” it said.

Back in 2004 a French court involved itself with a similar ban on the Eutelsat satellite, again citing the controversial comments carried by the channel. 

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