Sheffield Link FM radio station fined £2,000 for airing 'Jihadi' chant

Link FM's licensee, the Pakistan Muslim Centre, "apologised wholeheartedly" for broadcasting the chant

A community radio station has been fined £2,000 for broadcasting an Islamic chant said to contain "Jihadi lyrics" and "promote terrorism".

Sheffield-based Link FM was found to have committed two serious breaches of Ofcom's broadcasting code by playing the "Nasheed" chant twice in 2020.

It contained material likely to "encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder", Ofcom said.

Licensee the Pakistan Muslim Centre had previously "apologised wholeheartedly".

Along with the fine, the station must also broadcast a summary of Ofcom's decision on a date and in a form to be decided by the broadcasting watchdog.

In an earlier report, Ofcom said Link FM had broadcast a chant called "Jundallah" or "Soldiers of Allah" on two occasions in December 2020.

'Unfortunate incident'

An Ofcom spokesperson said: "Our investigation found that this Nasheed, which was in Arabic, contained lyrics and imagery that amounted to an indirect call to action to encourage people to join a form of violent Jihad.

"It was therefore likely to encourage or incite violence or lead to disorder."

Link FM broadcasts in Urdu, English and Punjabi to Muslim communities in Sheffield and the surrounding areas, according to Ofcom's sanction decision report.

The content had "clear potential to cause significant offence", the watchdog said, adding that it "did not consider there to be sufficient context to justify its broadcast".

Ofcom previously said the Pakistan Muslim Centre had apologised for what it described as an "error" and an "unfortunate incident".

It said the presenter who broadcast the chant did not speak Arabic and the piece had not been vetted.

In a letter to Ofcom, the presenter apologised and said she felt "quite embarrassed" and had "no intentions of inciting hatred or negativity of any shape or form".

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