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Sorry - this page has been removed. Golden Dawn leader and MPs to stand trial, Greek court officials say
(3 months later)
This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason. The leader of Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn party and most of its recently elected members of parliament will go on trial soon on charges of belonging to a criminal organisation, Greek court officials have said.
A legal crackdown on Golden Dawn ensued after a party supporter stabbed an anti-racism rapper in 2013, prompting a wave of protests.
For further information, please contact: Despite the charges, Golden Dawn took third place in the 25 January snap general election but saw its share of the vote fall slightly from just under 7% to 6.3%, good for 17 seats in Greece’s 300-seat parliament.
“In its final report, the [judicial] council decided that 72 defendants, including Golden Dawn’s leader and its former parliamentary group, will stand trial for leading and participating in a criminal organisation,” one of the court officials, asking not to be identified, told Reuters.
Golden Dawn had 16 lawmakers in parliament before it was dissolved ahead of the election. Thirteen of the lawmakers were re-elected on 25 January.
A date for the trial has not yet been set but it will take place soon, officials said. If convicted, the defendants could face up to 20 years in prison.
The party denies the allegations and says the defendants are victims of a political witch-hunt.
The leader of Golden Dawn, Nikolaos Mihaloliakos, the party’s former spokesman and prominent lawmaker Ilias Kasidiaris and five other outgoing lawmakers are in pre-trial detention. A further three lawmakers are under house arrest. The judges decided not to lift any of the restrictions imposed on the accused.
The Golden Dawn arrests were the most significant mass roundup of lawmakers since Greece’s 1967 military coup.
Golden Dawn is one of Europe’s most anti-immigrant parties, known for its swastika-like emblem which it says is the ancient Greek “meander” symbol. It favours an introduction of tax breaks to boost Greece’s low birth rate and the rounding up, detention and expulsion of all illegal immigrants.