Belgian police raid offices of Roj TV
March 4th, 2010
Police swooped on high-profile Kurds across Belgium today as part of a European probe into elements within the independence-seeking minority, as Turkish sources cited 15 arrests including ex-lawmakers. The raids followed an announcement by French authorities yesterday that nine Kurds were charged with terror offences following their arrest last week for allegedly recruiting fighters for the armed PKK separatist group.
French-language public broadcaster RTBF said some 300 officers descended on Brussels, Antwerp and other Belgian cities, including at the offices of Kurdish international TV station Roj TV in the northern city of Denderleeuw. An AFP correspondent in Diyarbakir, the largest city of the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey where Roj TV is widely watched, also said that the channel’s broadcast was cut today.