By Mohammad Ghazal

AMMAN - Radio Al Balad on Saturday sent a letter of apology to the Lower House for reading a comment on air deemed insulting to the Chamber of Deputies and called for allowing the station to resume broadcasting sessions, which were halted last week.

In the letter, addressed to Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali, Radio Al Balad Director General Daoud Kuttab said the station has taken all procedures to prevent a reoccurrence of the incident, adding that the “mistake” was not deliberate and does not reflect the station’s policies.

Kuttab also called on the Lower House to allow the station to resume live broadcasts of its sessions.

Last week, Lower House Secretary General Fayez Shawabkeh said the House filed a lawsuit against Radio Al Balad and banned it from broadcasting its sessions for insulting the Chamber of Deputies.

Also last week, the Audiovisual Commission filed a lawsuit against the station for reading the insult on air, which the commission said was in violation of the law and the licence.

The commission said it referred the case to the courts although it has the right to suspend the station’s broadcast for two months under the law.

The apology does not change anything, Audiovisual Commission Director General Husain Bani Hani told The Jordan Times yesterday.

The comment, on an article published on January 29, was posted by a reader on the station’s website.

“After checking the archive, we found that the insult was read on air by the presenter and this is why we sent the apology and decided to take several measures,” Radio Al Balad Manager Sawsan Zaidah told The Jordan Times yesterday.

Radio Al Balad, formerly AmmanNet, has decided to carry out a restructuring process and create new positions, she added.

The station also decided to stop the broadcast of a programme for reading listeners’ comments on air, which used to be aired daily.