Planespotters’ lawyer upbeat ahead of trial
LONDON (AP) – The lawyer for 12 British planespotters who are due to stand trial on espionage charges in Greece later this month said yesterday they had a strong defense case. The 12 Britons and two Dutch plane enthusiasts were arrested last November for taking photos at a military base during an air show in Kalamata in southern Greece. They were released in December after posting bail of $12,800 each but must return to Greece to face trial on April 24 on reduced misdemeanor charges of illegal information collection. «The authorities claim that they gathered, intentionally and illegally, information about airfields and military airplanes,» said defense lawyer Yiannis Zacharias at a media briefing in London. «We will prove that the few details that they did record are all facts which have been widely published in the past and can in no way be regarded as secret,» he added.
