A Georgian national suspected of spying at a naval base used by US forces on the island of Crete was jailed for two years on Tuesday, Greek news agency ANA reported.
The Greek court convicted the 36-year-old of illegal entering Greece under a fast-track procedure that allows the authorities to continue investigating the more serious offence.
The man, who was arrested on Monday evening at Athens airport according to public broadcaster ERT, had told the court that he was just a truck driver and had not spied on the Souda naval base.
Investigators found images of the base on his mobile phone and they are probing whether he also recorded movements of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s biggest aircraft carrier, which passed through Souda at the end of February.
The man, a Georgian of Azerbaijani origin, arrived in Greece on 3 February and went straight to Chania, where he rented a room overlooking Souda Bay, ANA said.
In June, an Azerbaijani national was arrested in Crete and placed in pre-trial detention on suspicion of espionage after being found with photos of the Souda base.
The Souda naval base is home to roughly 1,000 people, including military personnel, US civilian employees, local employees and contractors.
Source: AFP