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The Alliance of Independent Journalists is demanding the government not shut down Batam-based Erabaru radio station while its appeal to the Supreme Court against the revocation of its broadcasting license is still pending.

In a press release issued over the weekend, the alliance, also known as the AJI, said that on Feb. 15 the radio frequency monitoring body in Riau had asked the station to cease transmitting its broadcasts.

The warning came after the lawsuit Erabaru filed against the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology was rejected by both the East Jakarta Administrative Court and State Administrative High Court. Erabaru’s station director, Gatot Machali, told the Jakarta Globe that the station was currently in the process of appealing the decisions to the Supreme Court.

“The monitoring agency knows we are appealing and we have sent them a formal letter to notify them of that,” he said. “We hope that all parties can follow the legal proceedings accordingly.”

The AJI also said the country’s Frequency Monitoring Agency was discriminating against Erabaru since it never issued a warning to the unlicensed Suara Metro, a radio station operated by the Jakarta Police, which had violated government regulations on the use of radio frequencies.

“Why is the agency so firm on Erabaru while it is tolerant of Suara Metro?” said AJI chairman Nezar Patria.

Gatot said while Erabaru was currently still on the air on its 106.5 FM frequency, another radio station has been promoting a planned switch to Erabaru’s frequency and seems to have already been granted a broadcasting license.

Erabaru has claimed in its lawsuit that the ministry declined to grant it a broadcasting license following a request from the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta because of its links to the Falun Gong movement, which has been banned by the Chinese government.

Gatot has repeatedly denied links to Falun Gong, and said the station’s decision to air news about the movement was based on humanitarian grounds.

The ministry, however, says the radio station had breached some broadcasting regulations.