A Greek court has sentenced a 27-year-old Azerbaijani citizen to seven years and one month in prison on charges of espionage.
The Operative Information Center-OMM reports, citing Reuters, that the individual was convicted of gathering sensitive military intelligence. The Azerbaijani national was initially detained in June last year during a coordinated operation conducted by the Greek police and national intelligence services.
According to the investigation, the individual, who held a temporary residence permit in Poland, first arrived in Greece in January 2025. From mid-June, he stayed at a hotel in the Chania region of western Crete, which overlooked the Souda naval base—a facility of immense strategic importance for Greece, the United States, and NATO. Police sources stated that he was accused of collecting and transmitting state secrets, including high-resolution photographs and videos of military installations, to foreign entities.
During the search of his hotel room, authorities seized high-definition video cameras, USB flash drives, and other data storage devices. Sources further noted that specialized encryption software was discovered on his computer. While the defense counsel argued that the defendant had no intent to spy and was merely filming publicly accessible areas, the court upheld the severity of the charges given the sensitive nature of the site.
The Souda Bay Naval Base is a key maritime outpost in the Eastern Mediterranean, serving as a critical logistics and operational hub for US President Donald Trump’s administration and NATO allied forces. Its strategic location allows for the monitoring of maritime traffic and rapid response capabilities across the Mediterranean and Middle East. Espionage cases involving such facilities are treated with high priority by Greek judicial authorities to ensure the security of regional defense infrastructure.
