Rizai’s escape: a shame for the Greek penitentiary system and questions for those who signed his leave

History with Alketom Rizaei is becoming more and more a shame for the Greek penitentiary system: a man with two helicopter escapes, an attempted escape with hostages and a serious criminal history received another vacation, was connected with a new armed episode and now wanted again.

The search for Rizai continues throughout the country, but the main question concerns less and less the fugitive himself and more and more – those who allowed him another exit from prison. Who exactly agreed the leave, what risk criteria were applied and how did his previous escapes and serious crimes factor into that assessment?

Vacation ended – Rizai did not return

48-year-old Alket Rizaei was supposed to return to Domokos prison after the end of his next authorized leave, but did not show up there at the appointed time. After this, he was officially declared a fugitive, and police units across the country joined the search.

Athens News has already written about the beginning of the search for Rizai and that the police from the very beginning did not exclude his possible departure outside Greece. Now a more specific version has emerged: the fugitive’s possible route could lead through Northern Greece to the Albanian border. For now, this remains a working version of the investigation, and not a confirmed fact.

MEGA: The police continue to search for Alket Rizai.

During vacation – armed episode

The situation looks even more serious due to the fact that shortly before Rizai’s disappearance he became involved in a conflict near a beach bar in Anavyssos.

According to MEGARizaei was in the establishment with his company. After a conflict with the owner, he allegedly took out a weapon and shot into the air. Then a security officer intervened in the conflict, after which more shots followed and people were injured.

MEGA: participation of Alketa Rizai in an armed incident near a beach bar in Anavyssos.

In other words, we are no longer just talking about the fact that the prisoner “did not return on time.” During a state-provided vacation, a person with a serious criminal history, according to investigators, again found himself with a weapon in his hands.

Two helicopters and hostages – all this was known in advance

Rizai’s biography is no secret either to the police or to the penitentiary authorities.

IN 2006 he and Vasilis Paleokostas escaped from Korydallos prison by helicopter. IN 2009 they repeated almost the same scenario, again leaving the prison by air.

IN 2013 Rizai made another attempt to escape – this time from the Malandrino prison, taking the staff of the institution hostage. After an hours-long standoff, he surrendered to police.

MEGA: the story of Alket Rizai’s escape and his disappearance after another prison leave.

Therefore, the current scandal is difficult to explain by a lack of information or the inability to assess the prisoner’s past. All these episodes were known to those who were considering his right to another vacation.

Returned 16 times – does that mean there is no more risk?

The main formal argument in defense of the decision remains that since January 2021, Rizai has repeatedly received leave and Came back on time 16 times.

But it is precisely this logic that today raises more and more questions. Successfully returning from a previous vacation does not mean the risk has disappeared, especially if we are talking about a person with a proven history of repeated escapes.

Police representatives are already publicly talking about the need to evaluate not only formal compliance with previous leave, but also general danger of a particular prisonerhis criminal history and likelihood of reoffending.

Who exactly signed the decision?

It is this question that now becomes central. The public has a right to know, not in the abstract that “procedure was followed,” but who exactly participated in the decision makingwhat conclusions were presented to the commission and on the basis of what data the risk was considered acceptable.

We are not necessarily talking about one particular prison director. The decision to grant leave is made within the framework of an established procedure, so responsibility must be considered along the entire chain: who gave the opinions, who assessed the behavior of the prisoner and who ultimately approved the leave.

If the current rules really allowed two helicopter escapes and an attempted hostage escape to not be sufficiently taken into account, then the problem turns out to be even deeper – in the risk assessment system itself.

On social networks, suspicions are even stronger

The reaction on Greek social networks and under media publications is much harsher than the official wording. Many users directly wonder how a person with such a biography could even continue to receive regular vacations.

There are also more serious suspicions regarding the integrity of the procedure and possible external influence on decisions. There are currently no confirmed reports of bribery, corruption or illegal interferenceTherefore, such statements cannot be presented as established fact.

But the very fact of such suspicions shows the scale of the crisis of confidence. When a decision seems inexplicable to a large part of society, mere words about formal compliance with the procedure are no longer enough.

The police are looking, the penitentiary system must explain itself

At the operational level, the task is now clear: to find Rizai and establish whether he has left the country. However, at the institutional level, the story does not have to end there.

There needs to be an examination of how the decision on the last leave was made, what materials were available to those responsible, whether a full threat assessment was carried out and whether the criteria applied should be changed after the current failure.

Especially against the backdrop of the fact that during the vacation period, Rizai was again associated with an armed episode. If the investigation’s version is confirmed, the state has actually released a dangerous prisoner onto the street, who almost immediately again found himself involved in a criminal incident.

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