[Scan-DC] PlaneSpotters 6 Nov

[Sheldon Daitch]

From KATHIMERINI (Athens), Nov 6,

SPOTTERS HAD �IMPORTANT� DATA

Kalamata - Displaying piles of Greek military data from
commercial manuals and the Internet, defense lawyers
yesterday challenged a ruling that British and Dutch plane
spotters had filled notebooks with secrets that put Greece in peril.

�Do you really thing they came here to spy?� asked the
judge to the Greek Air Force officer whose testimony helped
convict the 12 British and 2 Dutch aviation enthusiasts of
espionage-related charges seven months ago.

The appeal - watched over by diplomats and political
figures from Britain and the Netherlands - once again
pitted Greece�s tight military security against the pastime
of cataloging the movements of war planes.

In the first trial, defense lawyers struggled to explain
the hobby to baffled Greek judges.  This time, they sought
to show the three-judge appellate panel that information
jotted down by the planespotters is available in stores and
websites.

Defense lawyers grilled a fighter pilot, who ordered the
arrest at an airbases near the southern city of Kalamata,
in November 2001.

�They were acting suspiciously...Their notes were very
detailed and they concerned combat formations from
nearly all Greek military airports,� said the officer �This
data should not fall into the wrong hands.�

He added, �Either they were pursuing a hobby or they
were using it for some form of deception....All I can say
is that the information they gathered was important.�
The judges also closely quizzed the officer on whether
anything in the spotters� material was actually classified.

�I think it is going well,� said Paul Coppin, the 57-year-old
who organized the trip to Greece last year.  �But I thought
we had proved our case the last time, so we�ll have to see.�

The trial is expected to end today (Wednesday, Greece time).