Television Pirate Caught in Latgale: Man Showed Forbidden Programs to 30 Subscribers

While we in Liepāja pride ourselves on our cultural life and rock music traditions, a completely different drama is unfolding in Latgale. There, a 49-year-old man has become a real television pirate, just without the ship and parrot.

For three years, this modern corsair provided illegal television service to more than 30 subscribers. That's almost as many people as can sit in our Liepāja tram at once! But unlike our tram, this service wasn't official.

"Well, what's the big deal? He just showed programs that are banned in Europe," comments local resident Jānis from Karosta on the situation. "Here in Liepāja we also sometimes can't watch TV properly — the wind keeps shaking the antenna all the time."

Police found one decoder during the search. One! In Rīga, for something like this, there would probably be a whole warehouse full of equipment, but here in Latgale everything is simpler and more honest. One decoder, 30 clients — efficient business, if only it weren't illegal.

Now the man faces up to three years in prison. For comparison — that's almost as long as it takes to build one bus stop in Rīga. But we in Liepāja don't need such television pirates — we have Kurzeme Radio and good internet at the port.