Man arrested for broadcasting Hezbollah television in New York

August 24, 2006

Javed Iqbal, owner of Brooklyn-based television company HDTV Ltd., was arrested yesterday by for airing content from  (The Beacon). According to the, Iqbal has been charged with to violate the. Government authorities also the HDTV Ltd. office and Iqbal's home in  on suspicion of maintaining.

According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the arrest followed a tip from a confidential source in February. A lawyer representing Iqbal, Mustapha Ndanusa, described the accusations against his client &mdash; violating U.S. law by providing news outlets to people with a satellite dish &mdash; as "completely ridiculous". If convicted, Iqbal faces up to five years in prison.

Al-Manar was launched by Hezbollah in 1991. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has declared al-Manar a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity pursuant to, which criminalizes business conduct with al-Manar and prohibits their access to American news outlets. France and Spain have also prohibited al-Manar broadcasts. Transmission of al-Manar broadcasts in North America via have been blocked since December 17, 2004, when the  placed al-Manar on the.

The criminality of Iqbal actions are also subject to the rights of the U.S. Constitution, which states in part, "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press..."