Five employees of a European-based security firm were on Thursday arraigned in court in Austria for allegedly modifying two agricultural-based aircraft into military grade.
According to a report by the Associated Press, the Prosecution team noted that one of the aircraft was intended for Kenya but landed in South Sudan due to technical problems.
The second aircraft landed in Bulgaria in South East Europe. Both planes were meant to spray crops in Kenya and Bulgaria.
Austria's prosecution team accused the employees of modifying the aircraft with armour, extra tanks and special cameras for marking and illuminating targets.
These modifications, according to the State lawyers, were done without permits.
One of the employees, an Austrian pilot, was accused of flying the two planes across the borders while his accomplices were charged with participating in the modification process.
All of the suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges, arguing that the modifications did not turn the plane into a military-grade aircraft.
Through their lawyer, they maintained that all forms of alterations on the aircraft did not contravene the Austrian laws.
"We maintain with firm conviction the point of view that the categorisation is legally wrong. All the modifications are completely innocuous," their attorney stated.
He added that the prosecution's accusations against the five employees were pure imagination.
The case will resume for mentioning on December 14, 2023.
