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NEW YORK, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The World Jewish Congress today welcomed a ruling by South Africa’s Constitutional Court upholding sanctions imposed by the country’s broadcasting watchdog, BMCC, against a Muslim radio station that had repeatedly propagated the denial of the Holocaust and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories. The Islamic Unity Convention (IUC), the owner of Radio 786, suffered a major setback when the Constitutional Court dismissed on all counts its application to strike down certain provisions in law. The application was the latest attempt by the IUC to prevent the implementation of
sanctions imposed by the BMCC against Radio 786 following a complaint by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBOD) against a station.

Mervyn Smith, who heads SAJBOD’s legal team in the matter, said that the case
was not about constitutional technicalities but about the refusal of Radio 786
to publicly acknowledge that the contents of the programme it had broadcast
were� offensive to the Jewish community and to apologise accordingly. “What
this is really all about is the refusal by Radio 786 to accept that six
million Jews were murdered by the Nazis and that denial of the Holocaust is
deeply offensive to Jews. Were this not the case, then what has prevented the
radio station from simply apologizing to the Jewish community and
acknowledging the truth?” Smith said.

The SAJBOD complaint dates back to May 1998, when Radio 786 broadcast an
interview with the Islamic scholar Yakub Zaki who denied the Holocaust and
blamed Jews for being behind some of the worst disasters in modern history. In
2006 the BMCC ruled in favour of the South African Jewish umbrella
organization and ordered� Radio 786 to desist from the broadcasting of hate
speech and in particular from “the advocacy of hatred against the Jewish
people, including the impairment of their dignity”. Radio 786 was further
directed to publicize the ruling as well as its full judgment and sanction
order through its news broadcasts, website and in-house news letter and
magazine.

Michael Schneider, Secretary-General of the World Jewish Congress, said the
court ruling was an important victory for democracy and the rule of law in
South Africa. “We welcome the decision by the Constitutional Court because it
sends a clear signal to the media that it has to act responsibly and must not
propagate hatred on air.” Schneider praised the South African Jewish Board of
Deputies for persisting in their legal struggle against the radio station.

The World Jewish Congress is the international organization representing
Jewish communities in over 80 countries around the world. The WJC serves as
the diplomatic arm of the Jewish people to world governments and international
organizations. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies is an affiliate of
the World Jewish Congress.

SOURCE� World Jewish Congress

Mervyn Smith of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, +27 21 918 9000,
mertam@iafrica.com; or Michael Schneider, Secretary-General of the World
Jewish Congress, +1-212-755-5770, mschneider@wjcmail.org