Court frees cross-dressing flashing "nuns"

IRAKLIO (Reuters) - Seventeen British men stood trial dressed in nun's habits on the Greek island of Crete on Monday for flashing their bottoms in public, but walked free after no one showed up to testify their behavior was offensive.

Police said they had arrested the 17 men, aged between 18 and 65, early on Sunday at the popular resort of Malia and a prosecutor charged them with exposing themselves in public and offending religious symbols.

"They were dressed like nuns, carrying crosses, but wearing thongs under their skirts and showing people their bottoms and the rest," said a police official who declined to be named.

Apprehended in the early hours of Sunday, the men were taken into custody and appeared in court on Monday in the same clothes they were wearing at the time of their arrest.

But the court in the town of Iraklio ruled them innocent after no witness appeared to testify against them, the police official said.

Britons account for about 15 percent of the 15 million tourists who visit Greece every year and some have gained notoriety for drunken and occasionally violent behavior. In 2007, Malia residents staged a march against British tourists.

Last year, authorities on Crete arrested dozens of tourists in a crackdown on binge-drinking and crime at Greece's coastal resorts.

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Jon Hemming)