If he had not desperately sought freedom with the conviction that the life sentences were unjust, because the crimes he was accused of had not actually committed, Alket Rizai would have been neither more nor less than one more Albanian in Greek prisons.
His two sensational helicopter escapes from high-security prisons in Greece echoed in the international media, a decade and a half ago, while the Greek state was forced to acknowledge the high intelligence of the Albanian from Mallakastra.
His name has returned to the front pages of the Greek media again, after yesterday in the Lamia Court, a request by Alket Rizai for conditional release from prison was reviewed, despite the fact that he has two life sentences on his shoulders.
However, what is striking is the strong change in the appearance of the 47-year-old. The Albanian who has spent a lifetime in Greek prisons, precisely since 2003 when he was first handcuffed, continues to remain a sporty guy, but the gray hair and a few extra kilos have nothing to do with the images that have circulated in the media so far.
