Will the ITV of Azerbaijan be punished?

Azerbaijani Public TV channel, ITV, broadcasting the "Eurovision-2013" can be deprived of the right to participate in the song contest, or be fined for incorrect transmission of counting votes, said Denis Shumsky, a representative of the Moscow Juridical firm "UST" .

Despite  Azerbaijan itself  revealed  the  "shortage"  of votes, according to the rules of  the contest,  sanctions primarily affect the TV broadcasters," he told RIA Novosti".

The Azerbaijani authorities on Tuesday unveiled details of the largest local cellular operators, according to which Russia won the second pace on the  number of votes from Azerbaijan. However, during  final  counting of votes, Russia received no points from Azerbaijan.

Formally, the contestants are not the countries, but TV companies - members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), so the most likely outcome of this conflict will be the application of sanctions to the television company involved in the competition on the part of Azerbaijan - ITV channel, said Denis Shumsky.

"If  any violation are revealed in the counting of votes,  then according to the rules of the competition,  sanctions may be applied to the TV channel, including exclusion from the upcoming shows for up to three years; additional sanctions in the amount  from  5 to 10% of the membership fee are possible," he said.

According to Shumsky, challenging the voting should start  from the appeal of the EBU, and further actions will depend on the response of the union.

"In theory is possible scenario of an appeal to the courts of the European Union, said the lawyer.-02D-