The German-language program of the Russian state medium RT wants to defend itself against German media regulators with summary proceedings in court. At the request of the German Press Agency, the Berlin Administrative Court confirmed on Thursday that urgent proceedings had been initiated.
At the beginning of February, the media regulators issued a broadcast ban on the German-language live TV program that started in December. A missing broadcasting license was given as the reason. This is a basic requirement for broadcasting nationwide programs in Germany. As a result, RT DE Productions GmbH, based in Berlin, filed a lawsuit against the broadcasting ban with the administrative court in February. The Berlin-Brandenburg state media authority responsible for RT DE had threatened a fine of 25,000 euros for Friday if the station continued to broadcast programs without permission until then. News reports are still available on the RT DE website.
Upon request, RT DE Productions GmbH confirmed that it had filed an urgent procedure. The court will now decide in the next few months. Although the exact time horizon is unclear, urgent proceedings at the Berlin Administrative Court lasted almost two months on average last year, as a court spokesman told the SZ on Friday. Parallel to the German RT broadcasting license case, an EU sanction came into force on Wednesday, according to which the distribution of the Russian state media RT and Sputnik has been banned ever since. The EU imposed the measure two days ago in connection with the war in Ukraine. It must be implemented in the respective states.