Strasbourg rejects Schawinski's complaint
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has declared Roger Schawinski's complaint about the awarding of licenses inadmissible. The radio pioneer is frustrated.
In summer 2014, Roger Schawinski filed an appeal in Strasbourg because he found the Federal Administrative Court's ruling on radio licenses "cynical, incomprehensible" and "therefore unacceptable" (Werbewoche.ch reported). In the protracted dispute over radio licenses, Schawinski and his partners said they wanted to crack the media monopolies in Graubünden and Aargau. An appeal was lodged with the Federal Administrative Court against the radio licenses for Radio Südostschweiz (formerly Radio Grischa) and Radio Argovia. The court did not even go into the matter, arguing that Schawinski now held two licenses following the takeover of Radio 105 at the beginning of 2014 and would no longer have been eligible for the requested licenses anyway. More than two per owner are not permitted.
As the NZZ am Sonntag writes in its current edition, the appeal filed in Strasbourg was already rejected as inadmissible in April. Schawinski has been denied further information and correspondence - the letter merely states that the appeal file will be destroyed one year after the date of the decision.
Schawinski concludes from this that an assessment of the legal situation has not taken place at all. This leaves him rather frustrated, as it concerns a "central aspect of our increasingly monopolized media landscape", the Radio 1 owner is quoted as saying in the NZZ am Sonntag. Peter Wanner, publisher of AZ-Medien and owner of Radio Arvogia, is not surprised - it was clear to him from the outset that the ECHR would not accept the complaint. After all, Schawinski had taken the step primarily for the gallery.
Schawinski could still complain to the Federal Office of Communications as a last resort, but he will not do so - the "case" is "closed", as he revealed to the newspaper. (NZZaS/hae)
Image: SRF
