Giorgos Roupakias, the Gold Dawn member who murdered Pavlos Fyssas in September 2013.

One year since the beginning of the Golden Dawn trial

Sixty-nine individuals from the Greek neo-Nazi party were charged with founding a criminal organization.

Photos: Panayiotis Tzamaros / FOS PHOTOS

April 20th marks one year since the beginning of the high profile trial of members of the Greek neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn. Leading members of the party were arrested in 2013, following the murder of Greek antifascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas in Keratsini, which was the climax of a wave of violent assaults against leftists and immigrants attributed to members of the party. Golden Dawn is being prosecuted as a criminal organization with the case file consisting of tens of thousands of pages filled with testimonies and evidence that point to various illegal acts and connections with organized crime.

Since its beginning, the trial has been met with various problems. Even the trial’s location was contentious. The court is located in Korydallos’ prison, far from the center of Athens. Both the prosecution and by the neighborhood’s residents consider it to be unsuitable for such a public trial.

The case has been described as one of the biggest trials in Greece’s modern history.

Party chief Nikos Michaloliakos, senior Golden Dawn officials, party members and police officers among the sixty-nine defendants.

In recent months, the defense’s attempts to stall the process has benefited from an ongoing lawyers’ strike which froze any court proceedings after January 12, 2016. Since then, the legal holding time has expired even for Yiorgos Roupakias, directly accused of Pavlos Fyssas’ murder. Leading members of the party that were released pending the continuation of the trial have even reappeared at a Golden Dawn demonstration at Pireaus on April 8, where a reporter was attacked by an armed supporter of the party.

Yesterday, Golden Dawn Watch, which has been monitoring the trial since the very beginning, issued a statement demanding the continuation of the trial. According to the statement, Athens’ and Piraeus’ bar associations have repeatedly rejected the prosecution’s plea for permission to continue the trial, while political offices have chosen to maintain their distance from the issue. The statement concludes with Golden Dawn Watch expressing its concern for the legal process and appealing to everyone involved for the continuation of the trial.

The streets around the high concrete walls and barbed wire fences of Athens’ Korydallos prison have been the scene of protests.

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