ATHENS – With violence spiraling inside Greek prisons, Supreme Court prosecutor Xeni Dimitriou has directed investigations into the killing of an inmate at Trikala Prison in central Greece and the whipping of two inmates at Attica’s high-security Korydallos Prison.

A 55-year-old Albanian inmate at Trikala Prison faced a prosecutor on manslaughter charges after allegedly killing a 66-year-old Greek convict with a blow to the head, but no reason was given for the incident. The victim reportedly collapsed and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

At the alleged high-security Korydallos, where critics said inmates are out of control and almost running the prison, two inmates were hospitalized after other prisoners whipped them with cables. No details nor explanation was given.

Earlier this month,  an alleged contract killer gang headed by Albanian inmates at Korydallos involved two Greek lawyers who were taken into custody after being caught by wire taps, law enforcement officials said.

A 65-year-old man and 45-year-old female attorney who weren’t named were apprehended, officials said, and put into pretrial detention after the country’s intelligence service reportedly caught them talking on the phone to the alleged ringleader.

The lawyer was said to have testified for 12 hours to a magistrate on April 1, hours after a female colleague had already been remanded.

According to investigators, the two lawyers maintained frequent contact over the past four years with an inmate at the prison believed to head the assassin ring that hired killers, including those linked to the murder of Athens lawyer Michalis Zafeiropoulos in 2017.

The gang allegedly runs what officials call the “prison ring” at the prison that also houses anarchists and terrorists believed behind a continued spate of violence in the capital.

That came as a graphic video was leaked showing the January murder of an inmate by another two prisoners amid press reports that Korydallos is being run by the inmates.

The video, aired by the Vima.gr website affiliated with the weekly Vima shows Albanian national Albert Bako stabbed to death by two prisoners, one his cellmate, while trying to escape through the corridors, but not successful.