Out of Pod Experience

Greece have most likely sold anything of any military value already, maybe the crime is they had pictures of empty warehouses?

Not that I care, that was just a chance to mock the Greek economy.

The .org site posted in the OP. The one we're talking about where you said there was no mention of the military base.......
It's right there....



I'm trying to argue that your story is changing constantly. First you say they were sneaking around on the base. If that is true then YES send them to prison. Then you say they were a couple hundred yards away from the base. That makes a big difference. I mean the paintball shop that I play at is right across the street from a base and, you know, we're kind of taking pictures of games all the time. I mean it's literally right across the street. I walk out the front door and there's a wing of Apaches staring me in the face, and to my right is a row of heavy duty trucks. But now you are saying that they're high fiving guards and taking strolls on bases like it ain't no thing. I don't know about anyone else but I've been to my local base a few times and its not exactly like you can just stroll onto it from any angle, what with 10' tall barb lined fences n all. You'd think that they would stand out in their civilian attire.

Also I found that there is quite a bit of tourism on that island. Website all talking about the geography and quaint little villages to visit and whatnot. I figured there had to be as tourism is usually a major source of external income.

Except that Greece features as the playground of two warring nations who aren't Greek, the US and I-ran, and thus the Greek "military" is probably of less interest than the flora and fauna.

From the game plot:

"On the verge of being driven into the sea, NATO command embarks upon a most desperate measure. In the hope of seizing what seems to be a well-guarded military secret, Operation Magnitude is launched.

A small group of Special Forces and Researchers are sent to a Mediterranean island deep behind enemy lines. "

There isn't just a military base on the island by chance. It's one of the reasons they selected it, and it factors heavily into the story.

And this is for every other game that has done the exact same thing and taken photos of actual locales.

Photo of ARMA 3 game footage.

I've been meaning to, but haven't yet. I think 2 is currently on sale on Steam, so i may remedy that shortly.

I'd guess they used satellite imagery for most of the work so far, and sent the guys there to get more up-close detail.

This thread reminds me of the 1980s movie about a group of late teenagers that in a trip to Europe they wander in the woods and get close to the border of a communist country and begin taking pictures of a Military Base.

Drama, pain and loss ensues for the rest of the movie which I believe might have been based on actual facts.

Protip: No matter the country if you begin taking pictures of a military base, regardless of who you are or what you really doing, don´t expect the military to treat you very well.

Venezuela has had a lot of cases of foreigners/locals jailed and equipment seizures for taking pictures of "tropical birds nested in harmless trees" that happened to be contiguous to a bunker, fort, barrack or administrative building belonging to the military.

Even here in Panama, if you try to openly take a cell pic of stuff in the supermarket or some store you get warnings by the security guards. Of course you can take pictures but if you too obvious you get warned, same with some stores. Not all, not everywhere, but it does happen , and its a freaking supermarket in a "tourism" based country.

Even in France I have had angry frenchmen asking me why I was taking pictures of their houses, and all I was doing was taking pictures of my wife in the street, and in Brazil if you begin taking pictures randomly and for some reason someone believes you are targeting a child you in for big trouble, and police brutality here is the norm not the exception. Same with other latinamerican countries. For instance I lately learned how some foreign drug smugglers in Venezuela get regularly raped by the Police, and they were male and they were IN TRANSIT to Jail. Getting jailed in Venezuela is not very good for your rectum. That´s the world we live in.

Not everyone wants pictures of their houses, cars, guns, license plates or ids shown on facebook. Thats a strange fetichism not all of us share. Its also for security reasons, derailing this a bit into something more broader, which is taking pictures in general.

In Venezuela I still remember the kidnapped boyfriend of a friend whose only error was to post a picture of himself with a car in the background that belonged to a local drug lord. Either police , the local drug lord or his enemies kidnapped him to extract information regarding the picture. Thats why you blur license plates or avoid taking pictures with people in the background. When I take a picture I blur strangers out of it if any show up. Photobombing is not really fun in some parts of latinamerica, and I have seen knife fights started for people even barely looking at a woman that "belonged" to another so imagine someone trying to photobomb the wrong woman, specially when some women here DO enjoy men fighting over them or them fighting other women for their men.

Dont assume that the world works a certain way because thats the way it works in YOUR country, to rail this back, also the Military and any kind of loitering, snooping or picture taking does not mix very well. Common sense.

You can defend these two guys all you want, but its the same as the guys that "got lost" hiking near Iran. It perhaps was no one´s fault, but you better be prepared to face the consequences of your actions specially if you go hiking NEAR IRAN (hellou) or go sightseeing in THE DARIEN GAP (guerrilla hotspot for the past 60 years) in the Colombia/Panama border.

Getting informed is easy and even the US offers awesome reference and information for like FREE . Greece, despite being an awesome place filled with relics is a country in a big depression and in a tense state and perhaps these guys were acting suspiciously ... OR NOT AT ALL. get it?

Im still shocked at seeing how foreigners in Panama get mugged, shot or plain outright killed for not knowing how Latinamerica works. Trust no one, no one is your friend, specially if you have more money than the average local citizen.

If you feel this unfair, unjust or just plain wrong, dont leave your country, or when leaving it, dont pretend everything works the same and your "rights" are the same either, just a tip from someone living in the other side of the pond.

These guys perhaps did nothing wrong, in the end, it´s irrelevant. They got caught and tried as spies. They just need now to mount up support and get out of the hassle they got into. I really really hope they make it out.