Greek court finds Azerbaijani man guilty of spying for monitoring military base

A Greek court sentenced a 27-year-old Azerbaijani man to prison on espionage charges on Tuesday for monitoring a military base on the island ​of Crete, Reuters reported, citing legal sources.

The man, sentenced to seven years and one month in prison, was arrested in June last year following a surveillance operation by police and Greece's intelligence service, on ​suspicion of monitoring the Souda naval base — a strategic facility for ​Greece, the United States and NATO, according to the report. 

The probe showed that the man, ⁠who had a temporary residence permit from Poland, had first arrived in Greece ​in January 2025 and since mid-June had been staying in a hotel room ​with a view of the naval and air force base in Chania, western Crete.

He was accused of collecting and transmitting state secrets and critical military information to foreign powers, including photographs ​and videos of military installations, police sources said.

Evidence included 23 videos and ​nine photographs of a Greek Navy frigate which had arrived in Souda for refuelling."He did ‌not ⁠intend to spy," his lawyer, Sofia Saripanidou, told Reuters. "He took pictures of a view, where everyone has access."

Items seized from his room included a high-resolution camera with a telephoto lens and a tripod, USB readers and data storage cards. Police ​also found encryption software ​installed on his ⁠laptop, according to the sources.Days earlier, a British man was arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of terror-related offences and espionage. Israel ​accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards of trying to attack Israeli citizens ​on the ⁠island. Authorities have been investigating potential links between the cases in Greece and Cyprus.Earlier this year, Greek authorities detained a 36-year-old man at Athens' airport on suspicion of ⁠spying on ​the same base, police and intelligence sources ​said. The U.S. aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford had visited Souda earlier in the year for resupply before ​sailing to the Middle East.