Arrest points to jailbreak clues
Police are hoping that they may soon have more clues as to the whereabouts of escaped convicts Vassilis Palaiocostas and Alket Rizai after it was revealed yesterday that Dutch police have arrested a man convicted of helping the pair in their first helicopter escape from Korydallos Prison. Panayiot Papa, a 33-year-old Albanian, was arrested during a random check in Amsterdam after local police saw that a European warrant had been issued for his arrest. Papa was convicted a few days ago by an appeals court in Piraeus of helping hijack a helicopter in 2006, during which he held a gun to the pilot’s head and forced him to land in Korydallos jail, from where Palaiocostas and Rizai were picked up. The Albanian was linked to the escape after his fingerprints were found in the helicopter. The 33-year-old is not suspected of taking part in the carbon-copy escape last month. Officers showed photos of Papa to the pilot of the helicopter but he said he did not recognize him.
