The news director of a radio station operating in Palestine's occupied territories has been placed under house arrest by a court in Jerusalem. Mark Klusener was detained two days ago by Israeli police along with the station manager Maysoun Odeh-Gangat and seven other staff - journalists and technicians - of RAM-FM, a Palestinian-licensed radio outlet that broadcasts from Jerusalem and Ramallah.
The authorities allege that the station in Jerusalem was operating illegally, because it had no licence, and officers confiscated transmitters and office equipment. The Ramallah station has continued broadcasting.
Klusener's wife, Peroshni Govender, told the IoL website that he appeared in court yesterday, was placed under house arrest, ordered to post bail of 25,000 shekels (£3,500) and told he must not communicate with the other staff, who were released on bail.
According to an article in Ha'aretz , the station's declared goal is to bring people together through music and it has promoted itself with an advertising campaign with the catchphrase "music has no boundaries."
It was established in 2006 by South African millionaire Issy Kirsh. It is modelled on Kirsh's Johannesburg station, Radio 702, which was the only station in the apartheid era to have both whites and blacks together on air. Klusener was formerly a reporter with Radio 702.
