ESPIONAGE-CHARGED CZECH NATIONALS TEMPORARILY RELEASED

The three espionage-charged Czech men have arrived back home after having their bail conditions relaxed.

The three were arrested last October after they were found taking photographs of prohibited sites in the Zambian capital, Lusaka.

Jan Coufal, a carpenter, Jiří Cetel, a technician and Michal Vebr, a welder, claim to have been on a business trip to South Africa but decided to take a pleasure trip to Zambia.

But upon their arrival in Zambia, the trio noticed an old Czechoslovak aircraft on display outside a military base and they took pictures of it, leading to their subsequent arrest by local police.

And according to Zambian authorities, the trio also made sketches of the Zambia Army Arakan Barracks and ZAF headquarters City Airport Air Base entrances and the Zambia Army Battle Training Area at Mikango Barracks.

The respective sites are by law protected areas, and the Czech men’s actions could be intended to directly or indirectly aid a foreign power.

After spending a week in prison, the tourists were released on bail but had their passports taken and were not allowed to leave Zambia.

It took the Czech Foreign Minister, Karel Schwarzenberg and Czech President, Václav Klau intervening through seeking audience with his Zambian colleague, Michael Sata, for the bail conditions to be relaxed.

The three, Coufal, Cetel and Vebr, charged with espionage contrary to section 3 (b) of the State Security Act, Chapter 111 of the Laws of Zambia, could spend at least 25 years if convicted of the charges against them.