Seizure of "hundreds of thousands of dishes" and arrest of "193 satellite installers" in the first seven months of 2016
The head of the Greater Tehran Police announced that in the first seven months of this year, 713,546 satellite dishes, 923,299 LNBs, and 10,766 satellite receivers were seized, and 193 people who were installing satellites were arrested.
According to ISNA news agency, Alireza Lotfi announced on Saturday, November 12, at a meeting of law enforcement officials with the Tehran prosecutor that the law enforcement "is seeking to focus on the contractors and gangs related to this issue."
The Tehran prosecutor also said at the meeting that some officials, by presenting statistics such as 60 percent of people using satellites, are "seeking to negate the actions of the police and prosecutors in confronting the satellite and collecting its equipment."
Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi emphasized that officials should not "obstruct law enforcement officers from carrying out their duties" in the fight against the collection of satellite equipment.
The "Plan to Ban the Use of Satellite Equipment" was approved by the Iranian Parliament on February 13, 1994, and based on it, the import, distribution, and use of satellite receiving equipment is prohibited except in cases specified by law.
Previously, the Parliamentary Research Center announced that the law banning the use of satellites has lost its effectiveness and efficiency, and efforts to pass a new law have failed due to the lack of a unified policy.
Meanwhile, Ali Jannati, the then Minister of Guidance, on Tuesday, July 12, called for amending the law prohibiting the broadcasting of movie teasers on satellite networks, saying that at least 70 percent of Iranians have satellites.
However, the Tehran prosecutor threatened that if the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and other agencies do not fulfill their duties towards what he called "rebellious" satellite networks and those who cooperate with these networks, "appropriate action will be taken."
He emphasized that advertising Iranian films and goods on satellite networks is, in his words, "counterproductive" and that the country's cultural officials must implement "judicial orders from the prosecutor's office" in this regard.
In recent months, the issue of broadcasting advertisements for some movies currently being shown on the Cem satellite network has been met with opposition from the judiciary, and in June, for example, the producers of three films, "Nameless Alley," "Forever and a Day," and "50 Kilos of Cherries," were summoned to the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office in this regard.
At a meeting on Saturday between law enforcement and prosecutors, Mr. Mansouri, deputy prosecutor and special investigator in the Jam satellite network case, said that "Jam satellite network currently operates with 23 networks and eight bases."
According to the report, an unnamed representative of the security police of the National Security Force also announced that some telephone lines related to advertisers on satellite networks have been blocked and 58 "advertising brand managers" have also been brought to court.
The Gem TV network began operating in 2006, and Gem Online was launched by the group in 2010.
A number of Iranian actors who were previously working inside Iran have joined this television network.
Source: Radio Farda
