BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovakia`s Radio and Televison council said on Thursday it had used sweeping new powers contained in an election law to slap a heavy fine on the country`s main independent television station. With just nine days to go before Slovakia`s gene-

ral elections, Television Markíza, which the government accuses of bias, has already become the focal point of opposition protest against alleged government interference in the media. On Wednesday, a crowd of around 5,000 opposition supporters gathered outside Markiza`s headquarters to demonstrate against the firing of the station`s general director by a little known company claiming majority ownership. Markíza was fined for televising the demonstration live, a move the broadcasting authorities said violated both the licensing agreement and the election law. "The council ruled that Markíza violated both licence conditions and the election law because opposition politicians appearing on the screen conducted election campaigning," Radio and Television Council spokeswoman Jarmila Grujbárová told Reuters. According to the election law, which has been sharply criticised by the European Union and human rights groups, election campaigning is allowed only in the state broadcast media. But independent media monitoring organistaions have said state television and radio are blatantly biased in favour of the government. The opposition complains this means it can only get its message across in a context defined by supporters of the government. Markíza was fined 3.5 million crowns ($120,000) and ordered to broadcast three times before Thursday evening`s main television news a statement to viewers that it had broken the election law. Markíza is 49 percent owned by Nasdaq-listed Central European Media Enterprises (CME), which was co-founded by New York cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder.