By Magda Panoutsopoulou
ATHENS (AA) - The Athens Bar association disciplinary board removed Kostantinos Plevris on Tuesday after a hearing concerning a Nazi salute by the lawyer in front of judges during an appeal of convicted Golden Dawn members in October 2022, according to local media.
“The Nazi salute is completely incompatible with the principles, values, traditions and ethics of the legal profession," the bar said in a statement.
His removal has immediate effect and Plevris will have to hand over his membership card to the association.
Plevris who is the lawyer of convicted Golden Dawn Member of European Parliament (MEP) Yannis Lagos and father of Health Minister Thanos Plevris will be able to appeal the decision.
Lagos, along with fellow members of the far-right group had been convicted and sentenced to 13 years in prison in October 2020.
The group was charged with the fatal stabbing of leftist musician Pavlos Fyssas and attacks on activists affiliated with leftist groups, as well as Egyptian fishermen.
In October 2020, the group, including leader Nikos Michaloliakos, were convicted by the Athens Court of Appeals for forming and running a criminal organization on the pretext of a political party, along with the group's other senior members, Christos Pappas, Ilias Kasidiaris, Ioannis Lagos, Giorgos Germenis and Ilias Panagiotaros.
- Formation and Fall
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. But in 2019 it was unable to win any seats, leaving it out of parliament.
Its rise coincided with the European economic crisis, which saw Greece suffer a tremendous recession, job losses and budget cuts, which led to a bailout from European Union partners and strict austerity measures.