Two German journalists were detained for entering a military restricted zone near the border village of Praggi close to the city of Didymoteicho. The journalists of state broadcaster ARD were detained by Greek military on Friday afternoon and were taken to police station of the city where they remain.
The two, a 31-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman, were spotted in an area that needs special permission by the local Armed Forces.
According to local media reports, the journalists said to work for German state television broadcaster ARD and that they were in the area for a report about illegal migrants returning to their homelands from Germany via the Evros river.
The two are to be brought to the prosecutor in Orestiada at 11 o’ clock Saturday morning. It remains unclear what kind of charges they might face.
The ARD and the German embassy in Athens are in contact with local authorities.
One of the journalists told Greek newspaper Efimerida ton Syntakton that they were following five migrants returning to Turkey. The smugglers had abandoned them on a small islet in the Evros river. They had no food and neither the Greek nor the Turkish authorities had approached them.
Late Friday night, police sources told efsyn that they were taking care of the issue.
The ARD said that the two journalists had requested permission for their presence in the area but they had not received a reply. The ARD estimates that the two will be released.
UPDATE: the journalists convinced judicial authorities of their innocence and were released on Saturday. They were to leave Greece for Germany.
