Appeal and bail rejected! Czechs arrested in Greece will stand trial for espionage

On the Czech news-site Rozhlaz.cz an article was posted regarding the situation of Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar.
Although we yet have to get confirmation from their lawyer but it seems the the appeal is rejected.

Here is the translation of the article..

The two Czechs who have been arrested by Greek police in September will be tried for espionage. Greek court has declined their appeal. Parents of both men are asking the Czech government for help freeing them.

 

Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar got a decision from the Greek court.

It says that their appeal against the charges of espionage has been declined, as well as their request to be released on bail. Both men will therefore be tried in Greece for espionage.

 

Their parents have today released a statement which says that they have been crushed and are full of desperation because nobody has been able to help their sons - who have been jailed for almost 70 days - escape from the absurd and unfair situation. They say they don’t understand how this can happen in a civilized world and hope that somebody will lend them a hand.

 

“Our boys no longer tell us on the phone that it’s alright, that they’re handling it. After the court’s decision we only hear from them something that no parent ever wants to hear: Mom, dad, please save us,” says one of the mothers.

 

“They’re in a cell with over 25 people, they sleep on the ground, they have food twice a day, they have to buy toiletries on their own,” adds Miloslav Buchta, father of one of the men.

Both men, as well as their Greek lawyer, are shocked by the decision to pursue espionage charges. Dagmar Raupachová, attorney of the two families is preparing their next steps together with their Greek lawyer.

 

*Diplomacy isn’t doing enough, parents say*

The ministry of foreign affairs supposedly assured parents of Mr. Pezlar and Mr. Buchta that its head, minister Karel Schwarzenberg, spoke to his Greek counterpart and that their appeal will be granted and the two will be able to return back home soon. That did not happen. The families will now seek help from president Václav Klaus and prime minister Petr Nečas.

 

The ministry refutes the parents’ statement. “We cannot agree with the statement [that we're not doing enough], because we are very intensely working on this matter from all possible angles,” says Karel Šrol from public relations resort.

 

“The consul has been to the Greek ministry of foreign affairs, she is in contact with the ministry of defense.”. We’re doing everything we can to help the two gentlemen,” the head director of the justice section of the ministry Jana Reinišová said in this morning’s Ozvěny (“Echoes”, a show). She added that the men can appeal one more time.

 

Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar have been arrested in September by Greek police because they have been filming and photographing military objects on the island of Lemnos. Both men are employed in a company that produces computer games and are said to have been working on a continuation of a combat game.

Translation by Deadfast