Mon, Oct 15, 2012 | 09:14 BST

ArmA 3: jailed developers to be detained longer due to Greek strikes

Bohemia Interactive developers currently being detained in Greek prison over alleged espionage charges are to be held longer due to strikes affecting the Greek judicial system. It has been over a month since the charges with first brought to the duo on the isle of Lemnos.

GI.biz reports that the pair of developers – were said to be arrested after allegedly taking photographs of a Greek military base on Lemnos, the setting of Bohemia’s shooter ArmA 3 – are to be held until at least October 20th due to strikes within the nation’s justice system.

Panagiotis Eleftherioy, lawyer for Bohemia Interactive developers Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar issued a statement on a website dedicated to bringing both employees home, “As many of you know, the justice system in Greece is on indefinite strike. These strikes last at least until October 20. According to Greek law, a case has to be on trial within 120 days after arrest.”

Both developers were arrested on September 9th and could face 20 years imprisonment if found guilty. You can get up to speed with the issue below.

6 comments

#1

roadkill
15/10/12, 9:41 am

Wow! So Greece keeps innocent people in jail. This is seriously f**ked up.

#2

Old MacDonald
15/10/12, 10:09 am

This is completely nuts. Not what you’d expect from a modern, western country.

#3

MFBB
15/10/12, 1:34 pm

Well it is not that nuts to get arrested when you break the law….

Also it is completely the fault of those two guys, should be clear they are no spies using a video game as cover up to prepare a invasion of Greece.

Guess this will be solved with no problems when the strike is over.
It is not some fucked up 3 world country.

#4

TheWulf
15/10/12, 11:41 pm

This is just beyond ridiculous. Oh the world we live in. Any sane country would have just confiscated their media, given them a slap on the wrists, and then let them go. Yes, it might have been a little on the stupid side for them to do this… but this punishment is almost…

Well, it’s flanderised. It’s become a joke. It’s like the kind of thing I’d see on The Onion as an over-exaggerated parody. Except it’s actually happening. Sigh.

#5

TheWulf
15/10/12, 11:44 pm

@3

I’m sorry, but that’s bull. Yes, arrest them. Yes, fine them (within reason). Yes, give them a lecture about it. But hold them in a month whilst their friends and family become increasingly worried about their status? They’ve been incarcerated for a month, for photographs/videos.

This is a fucking joke, an absolute shambles, a mockery, and base bloody flim-flammery. They’re just trying to make themselves look tough, but what Greece is actually doing right now is looking like the butt of the world. Something to point and laugh at because this is so bloody ludicrous and out there that it never should have happened.

Like I said above – this is the kind of thing you expect to read about on The Onion. This isn’t the kind of thing that’s actually supposed to happen. If Greece ends up being a laughingstock because of this, and avoided by tourists, then that’s what they deserve.

It’s ironic, really, that the birthplace of modern democracy remembers absolutely none of the freedoms it was built upon. What a joke.

(I wonder how many people will take me as an ARMA fan for this? I can’t stand those games, and I’m not at all a fan of DayZ. It’s just that I believe in nations being reasonable and sane. Which is the bloody opposite of what this is.)

#6

DSB
15/10/12, 11:48 pm

It’s weird that the Czech Republic isn’t taking action. Surely it couldn’t take them a week to secure their release, if they really wanted to.

Just get on the phone, give them all the files you have on Bohemia from your intelligence agencies as a show of good faith, promise to cover the expenses of the greek investigation, and bring them home.

Statesmanship is in short supply in the old world these days.

@2 Hold on, I thought they were in Greece. What country are you talking about?

@5 The world doesn’t give a fuck about two guys imprisoned in Greece, and holding someone for up to 30 days is pretty common practice even in more developed European countries.

If you’re dealing with stuff that requires intelligence involvement, it’s going to be longer than that.

The strike does make it ludicrous though, but Greeces image is really only about two steps below North Korea. Allowing dead people to collect pensions while “forgetting” to collect taxes for the richest people in your country doesn’t make you look too bright.

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