The organisation criticised the way an interview with Enrico Lunghi, at the time director of the Mudam contemporary art museum in Kirchberg, was edited.

Lunghi resigned after RTL aired the footage, in October, of Lunghi arguing during an interview with Sophie Schram, who contributes to the TV channel’s “Nol op de Kapp” (nail on the head) programme. Lunghi was seen grabbing Schram; later he said that he was trying to push away the microphone.

The press council said on 4 April that the video had been cut by 20 seconds in a “manipulative action, which can lead to deceiving viewers”.

A spokesman for RTL told Delano on Tuesday that the company “had already commented on the topic” last year.

The board of directors of CLT-Ufa, the company that runs RTL TV, issued a statement on 7 December 2016 following an internal investigation. According to the board statement, the internal review “proves that the company’s management takes the concerns raised by the editorial team very seriously and is drawing conclusions from this one-off occurrence to ensure the independence of the editorial team.”

The board also stated: “We reconfirm that we do not give in to external influence or to any form of intimidation of our journalists. The only factors guiding the decisions taken by our editorial teams are journalistic principles.”

Broadcast and print media in the grand duchy (including Delano) are subject to the press council, which is a self-regulating organisation with statutory footing.

Earlier this year, Luxembourg’s Independent Broadcasting Authority (ALIA) stated, after reviewing raw footage, that the version aired was misleading. “Image and sound have been manipulated with the result of creating the appearance of a non-existent reality,” the broadcast watchdog said in a press release.

In December, Luxembourg’s civil service ministry decided, in line with government rules protecting officials, to cover Lunghi’s legal expenses in a slander suit against the broadcaster.

Last month, the government renewed RTL’s public service TV contract. The company will receive a grant of up to €10m a year, from 2021 to 2030, to fulfill its public broadcasting mission.