Planespotters ruling delayed

Dutch planespotter Frank Mink arrives at a courthouse in Kalamata, Greece

ATHENS, Greece -- Greek magistrates reviewing the case of 14 UK and Dutch planespotters have adjourned without deciding the group's fate.

The judges are expected to reconvene on Wednesday to rule on whether to refer the suspects to trial, release them on bail or charge them with lesser offenses, defence lawyer Iannis Zacharias said.

"They've gone home for the day, Zacharias told the Reuters news agency from the southern town of Kalamata, where the judges are meeting. "A decision may come tomorrow or the day after."

Defence lawyers, seeking the group's release on bail, argued their case before the judges behind closed doors.

Zacharias said he was heading to Nafplion, where the 13 male planespotters are being held, to tell them of Tuesday's events. The one woman in the group is being held near Athens, in the only jail with a women's section.

The 14 -- 12 from Britain and two from The Netherlands -- have been held since November 8, when they were arrested for allegedly taking sensitive photographs and notes while attending an air force day at a military air base in Kalamata.

Despite appeals by the British Government for the planespotters to be freed, a Greek prosecutor recommended on Monday that the group should stand trial on charges of espionage, Zacharias said.

The prosecutor submitted a 36-page report containing his findings to a court secretary in Kalamata, Zacharias told The Associated Press.

He added that the prosecutor "insists they all have spied and that they must be held."

But the defence team is hoping that some of them might be released on bail this week.

The 14 claim they did not violate the ban on photography at military air bases and were only engaged in their hobby of observing and taking notes about aircraft.

If tried on felony charges of espionage, they face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

If the panel decides to release any of the suspects, they could be freed the same day.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw met with his Greek counterpart, George Papandreou, in Brussels this week and urged the country to resolve the issue.

Straw said he hoped the charges would at least be reduced from espionage, but admitted that the Greek Government's hands were tied because of the separation of authority between the state and judiciary -- which also applies in Britain.

"Nothing would please me more than if they were released in the next few days, but I don't want to raise the hopes of people detained," Straw said after the talks, held on the sidelines of a European Union foreign ministers' meeting.

"We agreed that it is not possible for ministers to order the judiciary around."

It was Straw's fourth meeting on the issue, and Papandreou also discussed the fate of the planespotters with the Dutch foreign minister.

Greek officials say the group was warned on three occasions before their arrest that photography was not allowed in military areas and that their activities were regarded as suspicious.