Two German soldiers were sentenced to six and ten months in prison, respectively after a court in Chania, Crete found them guilty of taking down the Greek flag and replacing it with a German one in 2019 at the peak of Stavros.

The two Germans, who were dismissed from their military services, were convicted initially by the first instance court in 2019, while their case was examined in the second degree, by the three-member misdemeanour court of Chania.

The court imposed on one of them, who was represented by his lawyer, a suspended prison sentence of 6 months, and maintained the sentence of 10 months on the second one, upholding the first instance ruling.

They had initially claimed during their apology that they did it due to over-excitement after reaching the peak of the mountain, adding they had no intention of offending or desecrating the Greek symbol and said they had regretted their action.