Trainspotters acquitted!

😀

From the BBC, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2412705.stm
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Plane-spotters acquitted on appeal

Eleven British plane-spotters convicted of spying in Greece have been acquitted. The group were arrested one year ago as they took notes at an air base in Kalamata, southern Greece.

Hugs and tears of joy greeted the verdict, which was delivered by three judges and a translator. In April, six of the Britons and two Dutch men were found guilty of spying and given three-year jail sentences. These were quashed in Wednesday’s hearing.

The remaining six Britons, found guilty of aiding and abetting and given one-year suspended sentences, are also free to come home. Mick Keane, who stayed at home on health grounds, is still convicted of aiding and abetting because he did not attend the appeal.

Steve Rush, from Surrey, who also faced the lesser charge, was overjoyed and spoke to BBC News Online immediately after the verdict.
He said: “If we hadn’t got an acquittal this time, we would have fought them all the way.

“We were 100% determined to overturn these verdicts and even had the flights booked for another appeal.” Mr Rush said he would take his daughter Isla, three, on a long-promised trip to Disneyland, USA, once he saved enough money.

Each of the plane-spotters has a legal bill of about £25,000. Jean Butt, mother of Paul Coppin, who organised the tour and faced jail, told BBC News: “Commonsense has prevailed at last. It’s been a terrible last couple of hours and we cannot say how thrilled we are.”

The defence team finished their case on Wednesday by arguing the Britons and two Dutch men were innocently doing a hobby unknown in Greece. Summing up on the second day of the appeal hearing at a court near the scene of the arrests, Nikos Salavrakos said plane-spotting was not understood.

He said: “We are lucky in Greece, we do not have this as a hobby. Here we have the sun.” Another defence lawyer, Yannis Nikiteas, said the officers at the airbase were honourable men who made an honest mistake. He said: “How can 14 people moving in daylight in buses be carrying out espionage?”

Before the summing-up, the public prosecutor Nikos Panelis said five of the Britons found guilty of aiding and abetting should be acquitted. But he said the more serious convictions for espionage should be upheld against six other Britons and two Dutch members of the group.

Earlier, Lesley Coppin said she had received permission from the Greek authorities to visit the bases during the open days, and had provided the necessary information about group members.

The prosecution admitted they were not spies in the classic “Ian Fleming” sense. But they argued the information obtained by the plane-spotters was classified information which could have harmed national security.
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:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Guess Greece can look forward to some extra tourists in the near future.