Jailed Arma 3 developers released on bail
Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar free to return to Czech Republic
“As a result of repeated dealings, today the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras informed Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas over the telephone that the two Czechs arrested by Greek police because of supposed photography of military objects on the island of Lemnos have been released. Both can now return back to the Czech Republic. PM Petr Nečas expressed appreciation for the efforts of PM Antonis Samaras and thanked him,” said a spokesperson for Nečas.
Buchta and Pezlar were detained for more than 120 days after their arrest on charges of espionage. While the pair protested that they were merely on vacation, the case was complicated by their work at Bohemia Interactive on military simulator Arma 3, which depicts a fictional version of the island.
Or at least, the case would have been complicated if it ever made its way to court--Buchta and Pezlar never saw trial thanks to wide-reaching strikes in the Greek justice system, and were previously denied bail.
The pair of developers is not off scott free: While they are free to return to their homes, the case will remain open until the legal system can see to the case. Until then, they're both out €5,000--not to mention months of their lives.
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.