Baldur Drobnika DJ6SI, a German amateur radio operator visiting the island of Kos, Dodecanese, was arrested a few days ago in the middle of the night in his room at a hotel in the village of Mastichari. Initially he was led to the court according to the proceedings referring to flagrant offenses, on two charges, operating an illegal telegraphy office (based on a law dated from 1929) and attempting illegally to destroy evidence of seizure. He was finally allowed to leave for Germany and was henceforth represented by his lawyer M. Kostoglou. On many blogs there was information that Baldur was also accused of espionage, but this is not true and belongs to the realm of fantasy.
As soon as we were informed of the incident by local Greek radio amateurs, RAAG contacted Baldur’s lawyer, at first represented by our president and then our lawyer; the latter provided Baldur’s lawyer with all necessary legislation for radio amateurs in Greece. We also spoke with him personally and offered any help he might need. Baldur responded immediately giving us more details and thanking us for the moral support and interest.
On 8/6/2012 at court, Baldur was found innocent of the first of two charges by the Greek court, but he was found guilty of the second charge, “the attempt to destroy evidence of seizure”, and he was given a five-month suspended prison sentence. The decision is appealable.
We express our sympathy to Baldur and are at his disposal for any further assistance. We would also like to point out that this was a single unfortunate incident and should not be used to characterize a whole country. Every year thousands of tourists come to Greece, among them hundreds of radio amateurs, who have never faced any problem operating their equipment, and have a great time here. Nevertheless, we have already contacted the Heads of the Greek Police and the Prosecutor’s Office, and provided them with all necessary information, so that a similar incident should be avoided in the future.