‘Plane Spotters’ Cleared of Spy Convictions
An appeals court in Greece overturned espionage-related convictions for British and Dutch “plane spotters” whose case pitted military security rules against the hobby of watching aircraft.
The three-judge panel cleared the 14 hobbyists, whose arrests touched off spats among European Union partners.
The group was detained last year after attending Greek air shows and visiting an airplane scrapyard and war museum. Experts testified that their notebooks contained data easily available in publications and on the Internet.
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