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Greece Political Briefing: Golden Dawn As Criminal Organization George N ISSN: 2560-1601 Vol. 33, No. 1 (GR) October 2020 Greece political briefing: Golden Dawn as Criminal Organization George N. Tzogopoulos 1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11. +36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. [email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: CHen Xin Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01 Golden Dawn as Criminal Organization On 7 October 2020, a Greek court considered the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party as a criminal organization. Golden Dawn was accused of orchestrating crimes such as the killing of pop-artist Pavlos Fyssas in September 2013. The trial was highly significant and became an issue of domestic and international interest. While the governing New Democracy and the main opposition SYRIZA found another opportunity to blame each other after the verdict was announced, the key question is whether the political success of Golden Dawn from 2010 until 2019 will prove to be an unpleasant parenthesis or not. While the Greek society hardly contains neo-Nazi elements – with the exception of a tiny part of the population, populist politicians endorsing the neo-Nazi ideology have the capacity of gaining public support and influencing angered citizens, especially in times of crisis. The outbreak of the economic crisis in Greece in 2010 entailed dramatic political consequences. One of them was the success of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. The party had pre-existed in domestic politics but its electoral percentages had been lower than 1 percent. In the national election of October 2009, for example, Golden Dawn only garnered 0.46 percent. But in the twin elections of May and June 2012, its percentages surpassed 7 percent and it managed for the first time to be represented in the parliament with several MPs. The rise of the neo-fascist party became an issue of domestic and international concern. While most of its voters did not necessarily endorse the ideology of the party and voted for it in order to express their disenchantment with mainstream politicians who were responsible for economic calamity, Golden Dawn politicians were democratically empowered to implement their agenda. The killing of leftist rapper Pavlos Fyssas by the supporter of Golden Dawn Girogos Roupakias in September 2013 was the turning point for the crackdown of the party. A few days after the murder, Greek police arrested the leader and several other senior members of the party. The trial of Golden Dawn started three years later, in 2015, following a thorough investigation by persecutors. 68 of its members faced criminal charges for illegal weapons possession, criminal assault and murder. In parallel with the killing of Pavlos Fyssas, physical attacks on Egyptian fishermen in 2012 and on left-wing activists in 2013 were on the agenda. Most of the 68 Golden Dawn members were charged with membership in a criminal organization under a military-style leadership. The trial lasted for more than five years because of several delays. In 1 2016, for instance, Deutsche Welle reported about strikes of lawyers and interruptions caused by the defense side to bore the public and the media into losing interest. The long-awaited verdict in the trial against Golden Dawn was issued on 7 October 2020. Thousands of police officers were deployed outside the court complex in Athens where rallies by leftist and student groups were organized. The content of the verdict could not be anticipated, although the According to a proposal made by prosecutor Adamantia Economou, for example, Golden Dawn officials should have been exonerated because – in her opinion – there was no evidence that they had any part in the planning or execution of the crimes they have been accused of. But the court did not vindicate her. It ruled that Golden Dawn party was operating as a criminal organization. Demonstrators outside the court complex started to celebrate as soon as the announcement was made. Leaving the courthouse, the mother of Pavlos Fyssas raised her arms and shouted: ‘Pavlos did it. My son’. Giorgos Roupakias received the harshest sentence, life plus 10 years. Additionally, the leader of Golden Dawn Nikos Michaloliakos was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Six other former senior members were sentenced between 10 and 13 years, and 11 former Golden Dawn lawmakers to a period of 5-7 years. In a twitter post Michaloliakos said that Greeks would remember Golden Dawn ‘when illegal immigrants are the majority in Greece, when they concede earth and water to Turkey and when millions of Greeks are unemployed on the streets.’ For his part, Isidoros Dogiakos, the prosecutor who supervised the interrogation for the crimes of Golden Dawn and proposed the organization of the trial for its leadership, felt personally relieved for doing his job in a fair and efficient way. He had previously been targeted and occasionally threatened. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the verdict entered a traumatic life in the country’s public life and considered the day the verdict was issued a ‘truly historic [one] for Greece, democracy, and the rule of law’. He later gave an interview to ta TA NEA newspaper expressing his satisfaction with the decision of the court that he considered courageous and of legal nature in spite of the general anti-Golden Dawn climate in the Greek society and the media. He also found an opportunity to criticize the main opposition SYRIZA party for delays occurred in the trial process during the 4.5 years of its administration, from January 2015 until July 2019. He also criticized a newspaper affiliated with SYRIZA, Avgi, for illustrating himself and former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras as responsible for the emergence of neo-fascism in domestic politics. On the contrary, he acknowledged Samaras’ role in starting – in 2013 – the process that led to Golden Dawn’s trial. Mitsotakis also met with representatives from the 2 Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece confirming the determination of the Greek government to eliminate neo-Nazi political formations. Another theme which dominates the Greek political agenda in response to the verdict on Golden Dawn was the impact exerted on sentences by the criminal code introduced by SYRIZA towards the end of its administration. Some of the new terms make could make sentences more lenient. While leader of SYRIZA Alexis Tsipras joined demonstrators outside the courtroom, governing New Democracy accused him of hypocrisy. It is worth-mentioning that former Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis resigned from SYRIZA and was ejected from the party after saying that the criminal code introduced in 2019 could lead to lighter sentences for Golden Dawn. New Democracy saw Kontonis’ comments as exposing Tsipras’ cynicism whereas SYRIZA blamed New Democracy for distorting the reality. Looking towards the future, Golden Dawn members, who have been sentenced to spend some years in prison, will have the opportunity to participate in Greek politics. The court, arguably in line with the afore-mentioned criminal code, could not deprive them of political rights. Ilias Kasidiaris, for instance, a former MP of the neo-Nazi party, recently formed a new one called: ‘Greeks for the Fatherland’. Although Golden Dawn has been politically defeated in the national election of July 2019, it is unclear whether a party such the new one of Kasidiaris will have the potential of playing a similar role in domestic politics. There are some scholars who already warn about this scenario. SYRIZA already proposed an amendment οn depriving the political rights of Golden Dawn members that was rejected. Neo-fascist elements are certainly existing in the Greek society but to a low degree. The failure of Golden Dawn to enter Parliament before the years of the economic crisis outlines this reality. There are, of course, analysts who believe that is was the creeping neo-fascist ideology of several Greek citizens which allegedly was the driving force for the success of Golden Dawn as the party offered them a convenient vehicle to express their belief. However, this approach fails to take the massive impact of the economic crisis into account. On these grounds, what appears highly dangerous is the ability of some neo-Nazi politicians to exploit public anger in order to serve their cause. This is what deserves special attention and is certainly connected with the discussion about future political rights of Golden Dawn members. 3 Conclusion The neo-fascist Golden Dawn party entered Greek Parliament for the first time in the twin elections of May and June 2012 and was re-elected in the ones of January and September 2015. However, the party did not reach the required 3 percent threshold in the national election of July 2019. The end of Golden Dawn’s political success was accompanied by a court’s verdict against it in October 2020. The neo-fascist party was named a criminal organization for coordinating crimes. The political and legal defeat of Golden Dawn have been a victory of democracy and the rule of law in Greece. However, the battle against neo-Nazi political formations is far from over. As Greece is continuously suffering by an economic crisis – fueled now by the COVID-19 pandemic – complacency will be a serious mistake. Former Golden Dawn members have not been deprived of political rights while other political successors or parties with different names might emerge. 4 .
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