Six out of eight Slovak paragliders who were incarcerated in a Iranian prison for alleged espionage are already back home, Prime Minister Robert Fico and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak announced at a press conference on Sunday. “The negotiations with the Iranian side were fair and their result is the release of six out of eight apprehended Slovak citizens,” said Fico adding they set up a special team made up of intelligence agency SIS and the foreign affairs ministry personnel to work on the release of the paragliders.
Although there are two more Slovaks kept in custody at the moment, according to Fico they’re doing whatever they can to free them as soon as possible. “I confirm that we have a clear plan how to proceed; a plan how to get these two citizens back to Slovak soil. We'll make all possible initiatives and do our utmost in the fields of intelligence, diplomacy and politics to allow these two citizens to return to Slovakia, their families and friends,” said Fico.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lajčák used the occasion to remind people planning trips to exotic countries to learn the necessary information about a given country first and register with the local Slovak representative office. “We have to be aware that not every country in the world has a similar regime as we do. What is customary and permitted here, might not be automatically permitted in other countries,” said Lajcak. The eight Slovaks are members of a civil association called Paragliding Expedition Slovakia and they traveled to Iran to in May to make a documentary film. The Iranian authorities arrested them on suspicion of spying after they were allegedly spotted taking photographs of nuclear facilities from the air.
