The 7 army recruits of Albanian origin who had posted a photo displaying a pro-Albanian nationalistic hand sign on Facebook could face possible sentences of 5 years in prison. The initial lenient stance by the Hellenic Army General Staff, which had released a statement suggesting they would only be penalised with negative transfers, was overturned when enraged Defence Minister, Panos Kammenos returned from a trip in the US and was briefed on the news. He ordered the immediate involvement in the case of the military prosecutor of Ioannina, calling for the highest degree of strictness both in the accountability of the perpetrators and the penalties handed down. Military investigations so far have shown that the soldiers are of Albanian background and they took the photo in a bootcamp at Messolongi with either a cell phone of some other camera device, violating then strict army regulations.