Washington (AP)-a federal judge agreed on Tuesday to block the Trump administration before the Voice of America disassembly, the 83-year-old international intelligence service that was created by the congress.
The US district judge Royce Lamberth decided that the administration had illegally obliged the Voice of America to hire the operations for the first time since it was founded of the First World War.
Voice of America’s lawyers and contractors asked the judge to restore his ability to restore his ability to transfer his financing at the same level before President Donald Trump. Lamberth largely agreed and ordered the administration to restore Voice of America, and two of the independent Broadcast networks, which were operated by the US agency for global media – Radio Free Asia and the near East Broadcasting Networks – until the complaints are paid.
The judge rejected the application for two other independent networks, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Open Technology Fund.
In a court registration dated March 26, the plaintiffs’ lawyers said that almost all 1,300 of the Voice of America employees were transferred to administrative leave, while 500 contractors were announced that their contracts would be terminated at the end of the last month.
The US agency for Global Media, which operates Voice of America, has operated other shipping companies, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Afghanistan. The congress has acquired almost 860 million US dollars for the agency for global media for the current financial year.
Shortly after Trump, the Voice of America was issued on March 14th an executive order that financed the agency for global media and six other non -related federal companies. It also moved to terminate VOA contracts with news agencies, including the Associated Press.
The Voice of America has put into authoritarian countries that have no free press since the Second World War. It began as a counterpoint to the Nazi propaganda and played an outstanding role in the efforts of the US government to contain the spread of communism.
Trump and his Republican allies have accused Voice of America of having a “left prejudices” and not projecting “Pro -American” values to his audience.
The plaintiff’s lawyers say that it reports and sends out the news “honestly, impartial and objectively”.
“This simple mission is powerful for those who live all over the world without seeing access to a free press and without the ability to recognize what really happens,” they wrote.
Government lawyers argued that the plaintiffs could not prove how they were irreparably damaged.
“Rather, the plaintiffs aim for a temporary break for their activities, while the global media determine how the Voice of America can be included in compliance with the president’s guideline,” they wrote.
The Global Media leadership agency includes special consultant Kari Lake, a former TV newser spokesman and political candidate.
In his written decision, Lamberth found that the US agency for global media had never concluded its granting contract with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for the current financial year, and the Open Technology Fund withdrew its legal application for a transient order at the beginning of this year.
Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks have current scholarship agreements and like Voice of America are financed by the areas of the congress.
Lamberth said that the financing cuts “reflect a hasty, indiscriminately approach” – especially since on the same day, on which President Trump signed the appropriation of the congress, which the Voice of America and the networks financed by September of this year.
There is not only the lack of a “justified analysis” of the accused; There is no analysis, ”said Lamberth.
The union, which represents employees of the US agency for global media, described the decision as “strong confirmation of the role that independent journalism plays in promoting democracy and fighting dissinformation”.
“These networks are essential tools of the American Soft Power – trustworthy truth sources in places where they are often scarce,” said Tom Yazdgerdi, President of the American Foreign Service Association, in a press release on Tuesday. “By maintaining editorial independence, the court protected the credibility of USAGM journalists and the global mission that it serves.”
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