Greek prisoners kick their way to rehab

ATHENS - Behind the concrete walls and barbed wire of Greece's largest maximum security prison complex at Korydallos, a suburb of Piraeus port near the capital Athens, a friendly soccer game was hailed by inmates and their rivals from the "outside world" as a step on the road to rehabilitation.

Ahead of this Sunday's Easter celebration, a group of Greek sports journalists, technicians and actors crossed the gate of the jail that holds some 2,000 inmates to compete against a team made up of convicts and guards.

The hosts easily won 12-6, but at the end all participants celebrated as winners.

The initiative of the Panhellenic Association of Sports Journalists was warmly welcomed by prison director Christoforos Giannakopoulos.

"A country's civilization is reflected also on the conditions of detention. We are really touched by the struggle of these people for reintegration. This is the reason we are here - to support them from our side," PSAT president Sotiris Triantafyllou told Xinhua.

Friendly games between inmates and visiting "outside" squads are not unusual as Greek authorities promote sports as a way to instill discipline and team spirit - two attributes that help ex-prisoners reintegrate into society.

Healthy interaction with inmates, educational and cultural programs are encouraged as a means to combat the stigma of incarceration and social exclusion.

Sports or cultural events breaking walls between inmates and society also offer an opportunity to convicts to briefly "escape" the harsh reality of incarceration and in parallel present a different image to people outside, Yorgos, one of the inmates who participated in Tuesday's game, told Xinhua.

"It is very important for us being able to escape the everyday life of this place. It is important that all of you left your families and your work to support us. We thank you so much for the effort and it would be good if we had more such initiatives," he said.

Yorgos wished for "more people to believe in us and come closer to meet us and invest time in us."

Actor Costas Fragolias, one of the guest players at Korydallos, said: "All individuals who have ended up here serving a sentence because of a mistake should not be marginalized by society. We should embrace them supporting their smooth reintegration and I guess I wish for their rehabilitation, not punishment, for as long as they are in here."

Built in the 1960s, Korydallos is located in the heart of a municipality of 80,000, close to a dozen schools. Throughout the years students have witnessed riots by the prisoners, sparked by overcrowding..

The prison was originally constructed to hold up to 800 inmates, but now houses 2,000.

Xinhua