Seventy-two people with links to Greece's neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, including its leaders, will face trial for crimes including murder and participation in a criminal organisation, a judicial source said Wednesday.
The move comes after the aggressively anti-immigration party finished third in last month's general election, winning 17 seats in the 300-member parliament.
The source said a panel of judges had ruled that the trial will go ahead following a 15-month investigation launched after a Golden Dawn supporter fatally stabbed a Greek rapper in September 2013.
Golden Dawn was later linked to the murder of a Pakistani immigrant and beatings of political opponents.
"Seventy-two people, including party leader Nikos Michaloliakos and all of Golden Dawn's lawmakers in the previous parliament, will be tried," the source said.
Most will be tried for being part of a criminal organisation, a serious offence in Greece, but while others are accused of crimes ranging from murder to conspiracy to murder, possession of weapons and racist violence.
Some of the defendants, who include police officers, face sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
The trial date is yet to be set but is likely to be before the end of May, when Michaloliakos and six other Golden Dawn lawmakers currently in custody are due to be released.
- Election success -
Handpicked by ex-dictator George Papadopoulos to lead a far-right youth group after the junta fell, Michaloliakos went on to found Golden Dawn in the mid-1980s.
The openly xenophobic and anti-Semitic party was for years a semi-clandestine group on the fringes of Greek politics.
But in 2012 the party exploited widespread anger over immigration and austerity reforms prompted by Greece's financial crisis to take 18 seats in parliament.
Although its members had been known to patrol the streets, carrying out attacks on foreigners, the party rarely faced action from the authorities.
The murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas shocked the country however, and forced the Greek authorities to act.
Michaloliakos and a number of others were arrested, and a subsequent search of party members' homes found firearms and other weapons, as well Nazi and fascist memorabilia.
Golden Dawn has rejected the accusations against its members as political propaganda, and the group held on to its support base in last month's general election.
It picked up over 388,000 votes, down about 38,000 from the previous ballot in 2012, and most of the lawmakers who will face trial were re-elected.
Golden Dawn also grabbed third place in European Parliament elections in May 2014, naming three MEPs for the first time in its history.
The party follows a strict military-style regimen, and investigating magistrates say its structure emulates that of the Nazi party -- something Golden Dawn denies.
Its members conduct parades dressed in black shirts and camouflage trousers, and are required to stand to attention before higher-ranking members.
For many years Golden Dawn glorified Adolf Hitler in its party publications.
This rhetoric was later toned down as the party adjusted its message to better suit Greek voter concerns.
Even so, in a May 2012 interview Michaloliakos effectively denied the Holocaust, telling Greece's Mega channel: "There were no crematoria, it's a lie. Or gas chambers."
Seventy-two people with links to Greece’s neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, including its leaders, will face trial for crimes including murder and participation in a criminal organisation, a judicial source said Wednesday.
The move comes after the aggressively anti-immigration party finished third in last month’s general election, winning 17 seats in the 300-member parliament.
The source said a panel of judges had ruled that the trial will go ahead following a 15-month investigation launched after a Golden Dawn supporter fatally stabbed a Greek rapper in September 2013.
Golden Dawn was later linked to the murder of a Pakistani immigrant and beatings of political opponents.
“Seventy-two people, including party leader Nikos Michaloliakos and all of Golden Dawn’s lawmakers in the previous parliament, will be tried,” the source said.
Most will be tried for being part of a criminal organisation, a serious offence in Greece, but while others are accused of crimes ranging from murder to conspiracy to murder, possession of weapons and racist violence.
Some of the defendants, who include police officers, face sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
The trial date is yet to be set but is likely to be before the end of May, when Michaloliakos and six other Golden Dawn lawmakers currently in custody are due to be released.
– Election success –
Handpicked by ex-dictator George Papadopoulos to lead a far-right youth group after the junta fell, Michaloliakos went on to found Golden Dawn in the mid-1980s.
The openly xenophobic and anti-Semitic party was for years a semi-clandestine group on the fringes of Greek politics.
But in 2012 the party exploited widespread anger over immigration and austerity reforms prompted by Greece’s financial crisis to take 18 seats in parliament.
Although its members had been known to patrol the streets, carrying out attacks on foreigners, the party rarely faced action from the authorities.
The murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas shocked the country however, and forced the Greek authorities to act.
Michaloliakos and a number of others were arrested, and a subsequent search of party members’ homes found firearms and other weapons, as well Nazi and fascist memorabilia.
Golden Dawn has rejected the accusations against its members as political propaganda, and the group held on to its support base in last month’s general election.
It picked up over 388,000 votes, down about 38,000 from the previous ballot in 2012, and most of the lawmakers who will face trial were re-elected.
Golden Dawn also grabbed third place in European Parliament elections in May 2014, naming three MEPs for the first time in its history.
The party follows a strict military-style regimen, and investigating magistrates say its structure emulates that of the Nazi party — something Golden Dawn denies.
Its members conduct parades dressed in black shirts and camouflage trousers, and are required to stand to attention before higher-ranking members.
For many years Golden Dawn glorified Adolf Hitler in its party publications.
This rhetoric was later toned down as the party adjusted its message to better suit Greek voter concerns.
Even so, in a May 2012 interview Michaloliakos effectively denied the Holocaust, telling Greece’s Mega channel: “There were no crematoria, it’s a lie. Or gas chambers.”
