Greece’s prison break fallout

  You know where the Obama administration shouldn’t send any Gitmo detainees? Greece. That’s the only conclusion one can draw from the above video of two convicts escaping from a maximum security prison in Athens by rope ladder and helicopter. What makes it worse is that the same two guys — armed robber and kidnapper ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

 

 

You know where the Obama administration shouldn’t send any Gitmo detainees? Greece.

That’s the only conclusion one can draw from the above video of two convicts escaping from a maximum security prison in Athens by rope ladder and helicopter. What makes it worse is that the same two guys — armed robber and kidnapper Vassilis Paleokostas and his Albanian sidekick Alket Rizai — escaped from prison in the exact same Jerry Bruckheimerish fashion in 2006.

Four prison guards have been charged with negligence and eight others suspended after the escape. The prison’s director has resigned. The manhunt for the two fugitives continues.

All in all, it’s not a great showing for the Greek justice system. This may even top the great jihadist toilet paper jailbreak that shocked Singapore last year.

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

More from Foreign Policy

Vladimir Putin speaks during the Preliminary Draw of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia at The Konstantin Palace on July 25, 2015 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Vladimir Putin speaks during the Preliminary Draw of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia at The Konstantin Palace on July 25, 2015 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

What Putin Got Right

The Russian president got many things wrong about invading Ukraine—but not everything.

Dmitry Medvedev (center in the group of officials), an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who is now deputy chairman of the country's security council, visits the Omsktransmash (Omsk transport machine factory) in the southern Siberian city of Omsk.
Dmitry Medvedev (center in the group of officials), an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who is now deputy chairman of the country's security council, visits the Omsktransmash (Omsk transport machine factory) in the southern Siberian city of Omsk.

Russia Has Already Lost in the Long Run

Even if Moscow holds onto territory, the war has wrecked its future.

Sri Lankan construction workers along a road in Colombo.
Sri Lankan construction workers along a road in Colombo.

China’s Belt and Road to Nowhere

Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy is a “shadow of its former self.”

Dalton speaks while sitting at a table alongside other U.S. officials.
Dalton speaks while sitting at a table alongside other U.S. officials.

The U.S. Overreacted to the Chinese Spy Balloon. That Scares Me.

So unused to being challenged, the United States has become so filled with anxiety over China that sober responses are becoming nearly impossible.