OPINION

Security woes now sky high

The audacious helicopter escape on Sunday of two convicts from the maximum-security Korydallos Prison in western Athens, a carbon copy of a jailbreak by the same two men three years ago, serves as a vivid reminder – to anyone still in need of reminding – that the country’s state apparatus is in an absolute shambles. Not only has the state failed to prevent such highly embarrassing incidents from happening, but, perhaps even worse, it has also failed to draw any useful lessons from them. Greece is sadly dogged by enormous shortcomings in the area of security and the recent escape of the notorious duo – bank robber Vassilis Palaiocostas and convicted murderer Alket Rizai, an Albanian immigrant – have left deep scars in the country’s already badly tarnished image. It’s high time that the state took measures to overhaul the country’s security forces by putting into effect the costly plans that were drawn up prior to the Athens Olympic Games five years ago. We cannot afford a repeat of such failures in the future.

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