Police seek charges against man over modified TV console sales

Latvia’s State Police have completed an investigation into a man suspected of illegally programming and selling modified TV consoles that allowed users to access television programmes banned in Latvia, LSM reported.

The devices provided access to programmes removed from Latvia’s retransmission list by the National Electronic Mass Media Council because of content considered a threat to national security. The man is suspected of engaging in a form of business subject to a special legal ban.

Police opened criminal proceedings on October 16, 2025, under Article 208 of Latvia’s Criminal Law. The investigation found that the man, born in 1958, had sold modified TV consoles for several years, averaging about 10 devices a month.

He bought the consoles through the AliExpress, Banggood and Geekbuying websites and programmed them himself. The devices could connect to online sources carrying television channels, including programmes excluded from Latvia’s retransmission list.

Police detained the suspect on February 16 and searched his home, where they found and seized 2,755 euros in cash and 13 TV consoles.

On June 2, a Riga City Court judge approved the police decision to freeze the man’s cash. The 2,755 euros were placed under seizure.

On August 3, investigators sent the case materials to the Riga Eastern Prosecutor’s Office to begin criminal prosecution against the man.

Police said the illegal distribution of content causes significant harm to content producers, law-abiding service providers and society as a whole. They added that protecting the information space is particularly important in the current geopolitical situation.