AFP: Iran’s judiciary will fine and jail professional “fortune tellers” who have reportedly been demanding large sums of money to cast magic spells, a press report said on Saturday. TEHRAN, Dec 23, 2006 (AFP) – Iran’s judiciary will fine and jail professional “fortune tellers” who have reportedly been demanding large sums of money to cast magic spells, a press report said on Saturday.
“Any fortune telling, divination and exorcism is regarded as a crime according to law and those who deceive people in this fashion as a profession are subject to jail and fines,” the deputy Tehran prosecutor, Mahmoud Salarkia, was quoted as saying by the Kayhan newspaper.
“If these people also commit fraud with their fortune telling and divination, they will be also pursued by the judicial courts,” he added.
Salarkia said some fortune tellers have already been arrested and been “strictly dealt with by the judiciary”.
According to media reports, some fortune tellers have made a fortune by charging impoverished people huge sums of money in return for casting spells to solve their problems.