Authorities of South Ossetia are ready to sue Radio Liberty for broadcasting in the republic

According to Georgiy Kabisov, chairman of the State Committee of Informatization and Communications of South Ossetia, the broadcasting of Radio Liberty in the territory of South Ossetia is illegal. In his opinion, there are all grounds to bring an action against the radio station.

"Radio Liberty has entered the information space of South Ossetia without any registration and request for radio frequency, in spite of the fact that there is a certain registration procedure under the law on mass media," Mr Kabisov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"They had to pass at least the procedure of magnetic compatibility, in order not to jam other radio stations. Therefore, we can easily now stop their broadcasting within the information space of South Ossetia or apply to the International Court," he has noted.

When asked by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, whether Radio Liberty would go on broadcasting in South Ossetia as before, Andrei Babitskiy, head of the programme "Echo of the Caucasus" of Radio Liberty, refrained from comments.

In the meantime, in Tskhinvali, the audience of Radio Liberty is small, as the radio signal in the city is very weak. The noise overlaps voices and makes listening difficult.

In the opinion of Gennady Kokoev, a political scientist and MP of South Ossetia, Radio Liberty is engaged in subversive activities.

"Back in the Soviet Union, Radio Liberty was the station run by the CIA and American special services. Then, it had one aim - information war against the USSR. The Union collapsed 18 years ago, but the ideological background of Radio Liberty has remained practically unchanged," said Mr Kokoev.

He noted that the orientation of the information work of the radio is essentially focused on the interests of Georgia and the West, "to the detriment of such notions as objectivity and impartial coverage."