Golden Dawn trial adjourned until July 6

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - The trial of the former Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party began Wednesday at the Athens High Appeals Court but was adjourned until July 6, when its outlawed members will seek to overturn their prison sentences.

Eighteen months after the historic conviction of the far-right Golden Dawn party, hundreds of leftist protesters on one side and unionists on the other gathered outside the Athens court.

“Nazis in prison” a leftist protester who did not want her identity revealed told Anadolu Agency. “They have killed, they have beaten, they have threatened migrants and beaten them up, and they should rot in prison.”

A lawyer for the former leader of the party, Nikos Michaloliakos, asked the trial be postponed, citing health reasons.

The lawyer said Michaloliakos is being hospitalized for coronavirus.

The session was interrupted just before 3 p.m. after a telephone call that claimed there was a bomb in the building. That turned out to be a hoax.

The appeal came after a senior prosecutor in 2020 claimed that the sentences were too lenient. A second appeal came from the defendants, leading to a re-trial of the case at a higher court.

- The first trial and conviction

The Athens Court of Appeals, after a long-running trial, found the leadership of the far-right party guilty in October 2020 on charges of forming a criminal organization.

The leaders were sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Giorgos Roupakias, who murdered leftist musician Pavlos Fyssas in 2013, was sentenced to life with an additional 10 years for his membership in the party.

The court ruled that 38 of the 50 defendants would serve jail time, including its 13 MPs, while 12 were given suspended sentences and will remain free with restrictions until their appeal is heard.

The trial ended following more than 450 hearings in 2015, when proceedings began.

- Rise and fall

The Golden Dawn was formed in 1980 but was not registered as a political party until 1993.

Its political breakthrough came in the 2012 elections when it received 6.92% of the vote, making it Greece's fifth-largest political group and enabling it to enter parliament for the first time.

It won three seats in the European Parliament after winning 9.4% of the vote in the 2014 European elections. Its downfall started in 2019 when it was unable to win any seats, leaving it out of parliament.

The party’s rise coincided with Greece’s economic crisis, which saw the country suffering a deep recession, job losses, and budget cuts, which led to a bailout from European Union partners and strict austerity measures.​​​​​​​