US court orders USAGM to pay funds to Radio Liberty
A federal district court in Washington ordered the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to immediately transfer funds approved by Congress for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) for April.
This is stated in the press release of the service itself, Censor.NET reports .
Judge Royce Lambert concluded that the USAGM's refusal to pay the funds on the same terms as the previous month was "selective and capricious." The court also rejected the agency's arguments that the delay in funding was legitimate due to the unsigned grant agreement with RFE/RL.
The court emphasized that the USAGM's actions threaten the existence of Radio Liberty.
"This ruling, which orders the USAGM to release funds approved by Congress for Radio Liberty in one month, means that our journalists can continue to do their job of holding dictators and despots accountable," said RFE/RL Executive Director Stephen Capus.
What happened before?
In February, it was reported that Elon Musk, an American billionaire and special civil servant of the US Presidential Administration , wants to close down the US state media outlets Radio Liberty and Voice of America.
As a reminder, on the morning of Saturday, March 15,Voice of America staff in the United States received an email from the HR department informing them that they had been placed on paid administrative leave.
Earlier it was reported that the US leader Donald Trump signed a decree that provides for the reduction of 7 federal agencies. This is part of the "reduction of federal bureaucracy".
