The trial of 69 members of the Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, charged with running a criminal organization, began yesterday without the party leader or other main defendants being present.
Golden Dawn founder Nikos Michaloliakos and 12 of the party’s 13 members of the Hellenic Parliament were not in the dock of the specially built courtroom inside a high-security prison near Athens for the opening of the trial, according to an Agence France-Presse reporter.
Two hours after it began, the trial was adjourned until May 7 because one of the defendants had no lawyer, a judicial source said.
Photo: EPA
Defendants’ lawyers gave no explanation for their absence. Michaloliakos and Christos Pappas had been free pending the start of the trial after spending 18 months in custody.
About 40 defendants were present in a specially constructed dock at the Korydallos Prison Complex.
Michaloliakos and the others are charged with a range of crimes, including murder and participation in a criminal organization.
Founded by Michaloliakos as a tiny neo-Nazi organization in the mid-1980s, Golden Dawn transformed from being a marginal far-right group to a popular political party during the financial crisis that started in 2009.
It won 6.28 percent of the vote in a general election three months ago, despite having state campaign funding axed.
Michaloliakos, a 57-year-old anti-immigrant speaker, and 12 other members of the Hellenic Parliament each face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
Politicians and legal experts are divided over whether convictions could lead to the party being outlawed, with most opposing a ban.
Although Greek authorities do not keep official records on racist violence, human rights groups say a surge of attacks has occurred since 2010, typically against dark-skinned immigrants in Athens and frequently resulting in serious injury.
Victims have reported that attackers — typically said to act in groups and to employ brass knuckles and baseball bats — have often identified themselves as Golden Dawn supporters.
However, the party rejects charges of involvement in attacks, saying that political opponents conspired against Golden Dawn after it exceeded 10 percent in opinion polls in 2013.
“They decided to put us handcuffs ... but in the face of all the mudslinging, Golden Dawn is the third-strongest party in the country, whether some people like it or not,” Michaloliakos said after his release last month, having served the 18 months of pretrial detention permitted under Greek law.
A crackdown was launched against Golden Dawn in 2013 after Greek rapper Pavlos Fyssas was fatally stabbed, allegedly by a Golden Dawn volunteer who was arrested.
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