Spare a thought this weekend for the British tourists just convicted of espionage for "plane-spotting" in Greece. The Greeks seem unable to comprehend the concept of a hobby involving an interest in planes and have sentenced them to 3 years in a Greek jail. (This even though demonstrated that all information they gleaned was freely available on the Internet!).
Years of history in the UK show men and boys having the hobby of collecting train numbers, car plate numbers, aircraft details etc etc - eccentric maybe, but espionage ... come on Greece!
:dunce:
Anyone going to Greece beware! Leave your camera, your notebook and your pen at home - it's apparantly a dangerous place for "anoraks" (as such hobbyists are affectionately known).
As for this family - nothing Greek from now on!
Who said the European Union would benefit all of its members? :mad:

Such lowlight in MY country? If that is true I feel ashamed. Haven't seen the incident on the local news here though...

my bro inlaw is greek I wonder if he heard of this.

Check out the following newslink for information - this is truly a great injustice - even if they are eventually found not guilty they will have had to pay $1000's in legal costs and travel expenses.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1953000/1953132.stm

I think I've been on WHT too long. I thought the subject was "Geek tragedy". I guess in this case, being on WHT too much is a "geek tragedy".

That is exactly what I thought it said..

The charges are just stupid and if they really are put in jail then that is even worse. Sad...
Originally posted by Abu Mami
I think I've been on WHT too long. I thought the subject was "Geek tragedy". I guess in this case, being on WHT too much is a "geek tragedy".

I don't mean to defend treating what these people did as a crime, but this article, more than the first one linked above, presents some of the rationalization behind the arrests:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1953000/1953654.stm

JayC - the question might be raised, "How did these people get onto a Greek Military Airbase in the first place?" - actually they had invitations from the Greek Air Force to attend the Air Show and the Greeks knew who they were and that they had their own website dedicated to their hobby and that it contained photographs and descriptions of aircraft, including Greek aircraft!!!

I don't know about you, but if I had an invitation to attend an Air Show one of the first things I would have taken would have been a camera - and why have a "Show" if looking at what you are "showing" is espionage???

If plane-spotting was your hobby and you had the chance to see planes in Turkey and Greece, would you not go (before this farce of course!), I'm sure most would take the opportunity.

Note the following short (non-BBC) extract from an international group concerned with this and other miscarriages of justice.

http://www.f-t-a.freeserve.co.uk/

What this clearly indicates is that those who have voiced concerns over the so-called "International Arrest Warrant", which comes into force in the EU were absolutely right. Each EU citizen is now at the mercy of any "bananna republic" in the EU and can be arrested by his own police and handed over without any trial for an alleged breach of any of that country's own laws - no matter what. Be careful where you go people!!!

Originally posted by grandad
What this clearly indicates is that those who have voiced concerns over the so-called "International Arrest Warrant", which comes into force in the EU were absolutely right. Each EU citizen is now at the mercy of any "bananna republic" in the EU and can be arrested by his own police and handed over without any trial for an alleged breach of any of that country's own laws - no matter what. Be careful where you go people!!!

Well... not exactly. The existence of international arrest warrants is balanced by the requirement by the EU of due process rights -- a "banana republic" wouldn't be permitted to remain within the EU.

The situation is no different from interstate rendition in the US.

If only that were true - EU countries continue to flout the EU laws when it suits them (except of course the UK - it just wouldn't be cricket!) - just look at the way France continues to flout the EU demands regarding UK beef imports and how Spain continues to rape the seas of small fish (check any Spanish fish market) whilst UK fisherman are unemployed due to obeying the laws on quotas and sizes!

I'm sorry, but your suggestion is only valid in principle, in action there is a great need to be worried indeed, as this Greek injustice and the above-mentioned already demonstrates.