Coordinated effort to silence ERT – They are shutting down the transmitters
An operation has been in progress since yesterday, for the shutting down of the transmitters that retransmitted analogically the programme of ERT. By “taking down” transmitters one by one, the permanent silencing of the ERT employees’ voice is being arranged. They started from Styra at Evia, they moved on to Vitsi at Florina, then followed the transmitters at Mount Pelion and Lesvos, resulting in the Aegean ERA (ERT radio station) being silenced too. Now, on the NET (ERT TV station) frequency it is DT broadcasting and on the one of ET3 (ERT TV station based at Salonika) it is the channel of the Parliament. But we do not give up, we remain here and keep ERT alive, against all those who ask us to let it sink into the darkness and co-sign its death certificate, enlisting ourselves in the DT “side”.
After yesterday’s operation against the transmitters at Styra, today it was the turn of the broadcast centre at Vitsi, at Florina. There, initially the OTE (telephone) lines were cut and, when the ERT technicians attempted to restore the transmitter’s operation, they were stopped by men of the Air Force.
At the same time, a four-membered team arrived at Pelion from Athens, consisting of a judge, a technician, a locksmith and a police officer, with the mission to “take down” the signal emission there as well, something that they unfortunately succeeded in doing.
At the Mount Olympus of Lesvos, the closure of the broadcast centre was carried out at 11.30 in the morning, by the “good-willing” owner of a local radio station, who sent two private technicians escorted by police forces, resulting in the silencing of the Aegean ERA from most of its retransmitters at the islands.
“Our voice reaches now, through the 103 frequency on FM, to the southeastern part of Lesvos and through the internet, to all the world. We continue being near you, we produce a full programme and fight to implement the court decisions!!” state the station employees, who remain even more determined in their positions.
POESY (Panhellenic Federation of Editors’ Unions) in an announcement spoke of a barrage of attacks by the Samaras government aiming at the permanent silencing of the ERT employees’ voice. “We wonder, is this the government’s answer to the full coverage of the Greek Prime Minister’s journey to the USA? Were they disturbed by the professional efficiency of the ERT employees who, with purely journalist criteria, fight the battle of information?” wonders the Panhellenic Federation of Editors’ Unions.