Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 25, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
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A Greek court detained an Azeri man for espionage near a NATO base in Crete. The accused denies charges, claiming to be a tourist.
ATHENS (Reuters) -A Greek court ordered the pre-trial detention on Wednesday of a 26-year-old Azeri man charged with espionage on the island of Crete which is home to a NATO military base, sources and the Athens News Agency said.
The man, who has a temporary Polish residence permit, was arrested on Sunday on accusations of monitoring the base in Souda - a strategic facility for Greece, the United States and the NATO military alliance in the eastern Mediterranean.
The Athens News Agency said the accused man had denied the charges, saying he was a tourist on holiday to Crete with two companions.
Police acted on information from the country's intelligence service, sources close to the investigation said, adding that he had been staying since June 18 in a hotel room with a view that extended to the naval and air force base in western Crete.
During his arrest, police confiscated a high-resolution digital camera with a telephoto lens and USB sticks from his room and found that encryption software was installed on his laptop, the sources said. The evidence included videos and photographs of a Greek Navy frigate, they said.
The investigation is still in progress and authorities are investigating whether the case is linked with the arrest of a British man in Cyprus on suspicion of terror-related offences and espionage. Israel accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Saturday of trying to attack Israeli citizens on the island.
(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis; Writing by Renee Maltezou, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
The Azeri man has been charged with espionage on the island of Crete.
During his arrest, police confiscated a high-resolution digital camera with a telephoto lens and USB sticks, and found encryption software installed on his laptop.
The accused man denied the charges, claiming he was merely a tourist on holiday in Crete with two companions.
Police acted on information from Greece's intelligence service, which indicated that he was monitoring a NATO military base.
Authorities are investigating whether this case is linked to the arrest of a British man in Cyprus on suspicion of terror-related offences and espionage.
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