Vassilis Paleokostas appears to have a fondness for helicopter travel. Two of Greece's most wanted men have staged a daring helicopter escape from Athens' highest-security prison - for the second time in three years. Serial armed robber and kidnapper Vassilis Paleokostas and his Albanian sidekick Alket Rizai were days away from trial for their 2006 escape. They fled Korydallos prison after a helicopter landed on the jail's roof and threw them a rope ladder. The aircraft was reportedly later found abandoned by a main highway.
The road leads towards Greece's central mountain range, an area where Paleokostas, 42, was able to hide with impunity during previous years, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant, in Athens.
Our correspondent says the breakout is a damning indictment of Greece's prison system.
Three years ago both men managed to escape when a hijacked helicopter landed in Korydallos' central yard at exercise time.
On that occasion, the guards failed to react, because they thought it was a visit by prison inspectors.
The architect of that escape, Paleokostas' brother Nikos, has since been captured and jailed, and is now likely to face increased security.
23.02.2009
