Greek court rules 2 Macedonians should be extradited

THESSALONIKI, Greece – A Greek court has ruled that two Macedonian men arrested on an international warrant issued by their country on charges related to a wiretapping scandal should be extradited.

Court documents had described the two men, aged 35 and 51, as being members of Macedonia's counter-intelligence services. They were arrested at the airport of the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki in October after allegedly being found with forged Bulgarian travel documents.

Konstantinos Chadziioannou, the lawyer representing the two, told The Associated Press he was appealing Friday's decision to the Supreme Court. The two deny the charges against them, saying they are politically motivated.

Macedonia's wiretapping scandal broke in 2015 when it emerged that the phone conversations of about 20,000 people had been illegally recorded. The political crisis triggered early elections the following year.