The "Neo-Nazi" Party In Greece Is Defined As A Criminal Organization, Its Officials Guilty

Golden Dawn members (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The far-right party in Greece, Golden Dawn, was declared a criminal organization by a local court. Its leaders were also found guilty of carrying out criminal acts systematically.

After a trial of more than five years, the Athenian court considered crimes committed by members of the Golden Dawn including murder, attempted murder, assault and possession of weapons not the acts of individuals operating on their own initiative. On the contrary, the crimes were planned and organized by party leaders who used violence to eradicate those they deemed enemies.

A total of 18 former party lawmakers, including party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, were found guilty. Individual penalties will be announced in the coming days.

Police stand guard around the court as left-wing parties, trade unions, and anti-fascist and human rights groups staged rallies to coincide with the ruling. The reason is, the Golden Dawn party is often touted as a neo-Nazi party even though its members dismiss this assumption.

After the verdict, demonstrations broke out according to CNN reports. The demonstrators, numbering about 20,000, clashed with riot police. However, the mass action was successfully dissolved peacefully afterwards.

Prime Minister (PM) Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the incident was a historic day for Greece, democracy and rule of law. "After the Greek people voted for the neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn left the parliament in the last election, today the Greek justice system punishes its leadership which operates as a criminal organization," he said.

Long trial

Golden Dawn leaders previously denied the allegations of such crimes. They claim that they are victims of political persecution.

They felt that several of the other members had also been convicted on charges of indolent murder. Most of these relate to the violent attacks that took place in 2012 and 2013, including the stabbing of the hip-hop singer known to be anti-fascist Pavlos Fyssas and attacks on immigrants and left-wing activists.

It took 450 days in court, brought hundreds of witnesses, and collected data from their confiscated cellphones and laptops to be able to issue the verdict. The data examined included photos of Golden Dawn recruits at training camp posing with Nazi weapons and salutes.

"There is a clear and emphatic message in this important case, that hate crimes will no longer be tolerated, (the decision) can also have a significant impact in preventing future racist violence," said Nils Muiznieks, head of Amnesty International Europe.

According to Thanassis Kambagiannis, a lawyer from the prosecution team, described the trial as the largest Nazi trial since the Nuremberg trials. The trial began in April 2015, with nearly 70 Golden Dawn members being charged under so-called "mafia clauses."

Among those present were victims of racist violence, some showing knife scars, waving banners reading: They are not innocent. The Nazis must be in prison.