Mytilene, Greece, May 15 (CTK) – A Greek court imposed suspended 30-month sentences with three-year probation on two Czechs on Tuesday, after the qualification of their case was changed from suspected espionage to a minor offence, Czech Television (CT) said on Tuesday.
The state attorney originally charged the two with espionage but later changed the qualification to unauthorised photographing, which is a minor offence.
The defendants appealed the verdict instantly.
According to the indictment, the two men, employees of a software firm, photographed some military grounds for a new game in a sensitive region along the Turkish border.
They say they were having a holiday in Greece and made the snaps as tourists.
Now they are free. They received back their passports and the bail of 5000 euros they had to deposit in January 2013 when they were released from custody after months.
In September 2012, the two men were detained at the island Lemnos.
It was thought they might be sentenced up to 20 years in prison. The Czech Foreign Ministry and other officials then intervened for them. A petition signed by 21,000 was launched to have them liberated.
