Prisoners in Greek jails pay the price for dramatic escape

Greek prison

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uploaded by Teacher Dude

The dramatic escape by helicopter from Athens maximum security Korydallos jail by two prisoners for the second time last week turned convicted kidnappers, Vasilis Paleokostas and Alket Razai into folk heros for many ordinary Greeks. Betting sites are offering odds on if the two will be recaptured whilst on Facebook the Paleokostas Airlines group has already 51,000 members.

However, for the 12,000 other prisoners behind bars in Greece's grim jails conditions are set to deteriorate still further as the new minister for Justice, Nikos Dendias has annouced a series of measures designed to clamp down on "lax practices" by prison officers. In many cases the concessions won by prisoners after last November's mass hunger strike (see here for full story) have been revoked or will not be implemented.

As Ioanna Drosou, a prisoners' rights activist said in an interview with Greek net - based news service TVXS.gr the government has reneged on their promises to improve the conditions in the country's jails despite have been repeatedly condemned by organisations such as Amnesty and the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

Arbitary violence by prison officers, widespread drug use, overcrowding and primitive health care facilities have all been cited as areas that need to be tackled in order to bring Greek jails in line with European standards.

However, last week's prison break out which has severely embarrased the ruling New Democracy government has lead instead to a tightening of security, a move which prisoners rights organisations such as the Initiative for the Rights of Prisoners argue will futher isolate inmates from wider society and add to ths problems inherent in the prison system.

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Tags: Greece | Amnesty | World | cpt | New Democracy | Greek prisons | tvxs.gr | paleokostas | korydallos | nikos dendias

Thank you for choosing Paleokostas Airlines

Thank you for choosing Paleokostas Airlines, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome onboard Flight 4B7 with service from Korydallo.

We ask that you please fasten your seatbelts at this time and secure all explosive devices underneath your seat or in the overhead compartments. We also ask that weapons are in the upright position for take-off. Please turn off all personal electronic devices, including tazors and IEDs. Shooting is prohibited for the duration of the flight.

Thank you for choosing Paleokostas Airlines. Enjoy your flight."

Prison Break - take two

Whenever I hear the authorities express shock or outrage about some police gaff or prison foul up like the one we say yesterday in which the same two prisoners escaped the the same jail in exactly the same way then I can't but be reminded of Casablanca, the scene in which Captain Renault the corrupt Vichy French official suddenly "discovers" that Rick's Cafe is also a casino and has it closed down.



Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?
Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
[aloud]
Captain Renault: Everybody out at once!


Or in the case of the Greek Minister for Justice, Nikos Dendias, quoted in CNN;


"I will not tolerate this embarrassment and all necessary measures will be taken, no matter how stringent they may be."


The problem is that the government said exactly the same thing in 2006 when the Paleokostas and Razai escaped by helicopter for the first time, then promptly ignored all problems once the media spotlight went somewhere else.

In the meantime the prison system has been widely condemned by outsiders for its violence, corruption and lack of oversight by a number of organisations such as the CPT (European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment)in 2005 and 2007. Yet the government has done virtually nothing to address the problems, hoping that spin is always much cheaper and effective than policy

Once you turn a blind eye to such behaviour you are just asking for trouble as those involved in a rotten system start to believe that have been given carte blanche to act in any way they see fit.

Prisoners escape Greek jail by copter for second time

For the second time in three years the same convicted bank robbers, Vasilis Paleokostas and Alket Razai have escaped from Greece's largest prison, Korydallos in exactly the same manner. Little after 4pm a helicopter took the inmates from the prison yard so repeating their previous escape attempt in 2006 from the same jail when the pair used a hi-jacked copter.

Despite government promises in 2006 that steps would be taken to avoid a repetition of the previous prison attempt local media report say that no additional measures had been taken to prevent another airbourne escape.

Prison guards inside the prison shot at the helicopter as it was leaving as did a platoon of riot police positioned outside the main entrance resulting in the injury of one officer whose weapon went off as he was taking it out of his holster.

Questions still remain over how exactly the two prisoners who were being held in isolation at the time managed to get out into the prison yard. However, the Greek prison system has been severely criticised in a series of Human rights and European Union reports for lack of supervision and oversight.

In its 2007 report the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhumanor Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) noted that just one officer was on duty during their visit supervising 446 prisoners on the facility's C Wing and that in other wings no more than three officers were present.

In addition severe overcrowding, violence, rampant drug use and primitive health care facilities are some of the problems facing the country's prison system.

Timo Behrendt, a 31 German national who was arrested during a demonstration outside the university of Thessaloniki in 2008 and held for more than four months before being released also spoke of random violence meted out to inmates by gaurds, organised gangs and the pervasive drugs trade that goes on under the noses of the authorities in an interview today in the local Macedonia newspaper.

Both Paleokostas and Razai were both due to appear in court tomorrow to face charges connected with their previous escape.