Battle over Sydney Muslim radio station escalates as Imams council seeks to take over licence

Muslim Community Radio, which reaches a large number of Sydney’s Islamic population, is facing a court challenge over its broadcasting licence. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

For years Muslim Community Radio has broadcast religious programs to listeners in Sydney, bringing news and daily talk-back shows in Arabic as well as making community announcements.

As the only Muslim community station on FM radio in Sydney, it can reach most of the city’s 300,000 Muslims, avoiding signal problems that plague most other community stations on low-powered AM transmission.