Two young Maltese soldiers have been found guilty of damaging their hotel room on the Greek island of Lesbos while they were serving on a Frontex mission early in 2010.
The soldiers, whose names have not been released, were both given suspended sentences and ordered to pay €400 in court charges.
However, they were acquitted of seriously injuring a group of locals during a late night brawl outside My Club in Mytilene, and of illegally carrying weapons which consisted of batons and pepper spray.
Three of their colleagues who were also charged were acquitted on all charges.
The case was made public by Frontex, rather than the Armed Forces of Malta, on March 16, 2010, when it condemned the incident and said it was concerned about the behaviour of the five soldiers.
A local daily newspaper in Lesbos had reported that the Maltese soldiers had gone back to beat the doormen and patrons of the club after two of their colleagues had been kicked out earlier “in a drunken state”.
The AFM defended its men after launching an inquiry and said they were acting in self-defence. It refuted claims in the Greek media that they had beaten up locals with batons and used pepper spray on them after two of the soldiers were kicked out.
The army said the two soldiers were attacked by locals for no apparent reason. One of the Maltese soldiers managed to leave the club and called three colleagues to help their colleague, who was still inside.
In court the soldiers denied the serious injury charge, pointing out that the alleged victims had not pressed charges against them.
They were also acquitted of the illegal possession of weapons after the Frontex official responsible for the mission in Greece testified they were authorised to carry the weapons in their vehicle.
A Greek coastguard official also testified that the weapons stayed in the vehicles.
However, two of the soldiers were found guilty of damaging the hotel Orfeas, where they had beenstaying.
The local press criticised the judge and the prosecution, arguing that the sentence was too lenient.
The owner of the hotel could not be contacted yesterday. However, when the case first came to light in March, a receptionist had toldThe Times the soldiers had caused trouble at the hotel throughout their stay.
“We had another group of soldiers but we did not have anyproblems with them. These guys were trouble from the start,” the receptionist said. A spokesman for the AFM confirmed the conviction of the two soldiers but would not release their names.
He said the officers would have an official copy of the sentence delivered to them in writing from the Greek authorities in the near future.
“Once HQ AFM is in official receipt of the findings in writing (they are in Greek), the two individuals found guilty of damage to property will be dealt with internally in line with standard procedures extant within the Armed Forces of Malta,” the spokesman said.
The Sunday Times also asked why the AFM had accepted the soldiers’ version following its inquiry but no response was forthcoming by the time the newspaper went to print.
The men were represented by Greek lawyer George Petrellis and Edward Gatt.