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Four Bulgarians escape with suspended sentences for taking photos of Greek military facilities

Tue, May 26 2009 14:15 CET byPetar Kostadinov 1094 Views 1 Comment
Four Bulgarians escape with suspended sentences for taking photos of Greek military facilities

Photo: Anelia Nikolova

Four Bulgarians have received suspended sentences in Greece for taking photographs of military installations after Greek authorities accused them of espionage, private national bTV channel said on May 26 2009.

The four Bulgarian nationals  - Delcho Zjekov, Veselina Peteva, Darinka Dimova and Tnaya Vassileva - were arrested by Greek intelligence officers on May 24 2009 while trying to leave the country, bTV said.

This is not the first occasion that Bulgarians have been arrested and accused of espionage by Greek authorities. In August 2008, three Bulgarians were arrested and sentenced to 15 months for espionage.

In last year's case two of the convicted individuals were enlisted army staff, a sergeant and a private, Bulgaria's Defence Ministry confirmed. They were on holidays in Greece but their stay had nothing to do with their work for the ministry, the ministry said.

They had taken photos of Greek military installations in the border town of Ormenio. Before their arrest, they were seen in a train, taking photos of other military installations. Greek examining magistrates found numerous pictures of military facilities taken with the Bulgarians' camera.

According to AFP, the Bulgarians claimed that they were in Greece as tourists and merely wanted to publish the photos in a Bulgarian military magazine.

Tags:
espionage

Comments

Anonymous Peace at home, Peace at abroad Tue, May 26 2009 23:32 CET
Inappropriate comment?

Woow! Why did they take that photos? Don't they have a computer and google earth??
Bulgaria and Greece are two EU member countries and there is a distrust of espionage! Pathetic!!!

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Bulgarian spies in Greece?

Three Bulgarians were arrested and sentenced to 15 months of prison on charges of espionage in Greece, Bulgarian news agency BTA quoted Greek news agency ANA-MPA as saying on August 29. According to the Greek-language newspaper To Vima, the detained trio had taken pictures of military objects in the region of the city of Orestiada. Two of the three Bulgarians are enlisted army staff, a sergeant and a private,

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