President Klaus appeals to Greek counterpart over two Czechs jailed on espionage charges
Czech President Václav Klaus has weighed in on the case of two Czech nationals held in Greece on espionage charges. The two men, both professional video game developers, were arrested in September on the Greek island of Lemnos after they took photos of local military installations. But they say they were only collecting material for a new game. Mr Klaus has now appealed to the president of Greece, asking him to follow the case with special attention.
According to the Greek media, they had all sorts of special equipment on them including night-vision goggles, and were asking about troop numbers and other details. But Ondřej Bouda, who reported on the case for Czech Radio’s station Radiožurnál, had a chance to see their file and says the investigation did not confirm any of that.
“The file disproves a lot of the initial claims and speculation. They had no night vision goggles. According to a list of things they had on them when they were arrested, they had a laptop, an ipad, a camera – things that any tourist would take with them. But they did take pictures. I think there are 14 photos in the file of military installations.”
The two men, who work for the renowned Czech game developer Bohemia Interactive, say they were only taking photos to make sure the game’s visuals were realistic. However, the Greek authorities did not believe them and a full-scale investigation of their activities was launched.
“One of the papers, addressed to the authorities in Lemnos, says that the men will arrive on a given date, it says where they will stay and when they will depart. This was sent to the officials ahead of their arrival which means someone was preparing for this. The obvious conclusion is that this is secret service material.”
On Wednesday, Czech President Václav Klaus made an appeal on the men’s behalf to his Greek counterpart, Karolos Papoulias. Mr Klaus asked the Greek president to pay special attention to the case, expressing at the same time his belief the Greek authorities will act independently and impartially. The men’s Czech attorney, Dagmar Raupachová, says Mr Klaus’ intervention might be very important.
“I think that it can really help in the sense that the ongoing proceedings will be absolutely lawful. The interest in the case by Czech officials will at least eliminate any potential, and let me stress this again, potential irregularities.”
