ArmA 3 Developers Denied Appeal, Facing Trial Over Espionage Charges

You may recall the story of two game developers who were taking a vacation in Greece when they were arrested on charges of espionage. It is known that the two developers have worked on a game that takes place in Greece and involves military elements, which is likely why they were picked out.

There have been petitions and demands made that the developers are released, as they deny all charges of espionage, but they have been denied bail by the Greek government. The two will have to face trial in a Greek court according Czeck news site Rozhlas. The appeal verdict took weekends to be handed due to a strike within the Greek legal system. The men have been in a cell with over 25 people for the last 70 days in the meantime, and seemingly have lost hope.

“They’re in a cell with over 25 people, they sleep on the ground,” said Buchta’s father Miloslav. “They have food twice a day.”

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

The families have approached the Czech president prime minister as they feel the foreign ministry has been a great source of help.

“We cannot agree with the statement [that we're not doing enough],” a foreign ministry spokesman commented. “We are very intensely working on this matter from all possible angles.”

Buchta and Pezlar face up to 20 years in jail if convicted of spying.

Source: EuroGamer