Greece rejected on Friday a Turkish request to extradite eight soldiers, who are wanted by Ankara over their involvement in the failed July 2016 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Greek courts have rejected two previous Turkish demands for the extradition. The group fled to Greece in a helicopter on July 16, 2016, as the coup attempt crumbled. In a unanimous decision, the Athens appeals court ruled on Friday that the men would not get a fair trial in Turkey and would face inhumane treatment there if extradited. They are wanted in Turkey on charges of involvement in the coup, attempted murder, participation in an armed terrorist group, military desertion and theft of military material. The group has denied involvement in the coup. Examining the new Turkish request, the Athens court ruled that most of the accusations already were rejected during hearings of the previous requests. It also found that additional charges that the men belonged to an armed terrorist group and were involved in attempted murders had no solid grounding. "Justice rose to the occasion today," said Omiros Zelios, a lawyer for the eight men. "It is a happy day for the eight, the verdict was what we expected." Prosecutor Evgenia Kyvelou had earlier recommended that the men should not be extradited. The decision can be appealed. Greece and Turkey have sparred at top level over the fate of the eight, with Erdogan complaining that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras broke a personal assurance to him that they would be returned. Matters were further complicated by the March 1 arrest of two Greek army officers on the Turkish side of the two countries land border. Greece said the men accidentally strayed across the ill-defined border due to bad weather, and Tsipras government asserted that their return would be a "pure formality." However, the two men, a lieutenant and a sergeant, remain in a Turkish prison on charges of entering a military zone. Turkey has rejected suggestions it wants to swap them with its own eight fugitive servicemen. But Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos has accused Turkey of holding them hostage. The case of the servicemen has increased tension between the two neighbors and NATO allies, which are regional rivals that came to the brink of war three times since 1974 over the island nation of Cyprus and Aegean Sea territorial rights. Last month, a Greek coast guard vessel was rammed by a Turkish patrol boat off disputed islets in the Aegean Sea, and Turkish warships prevented an exploratory gas rig from drilling near Cyprus.