Greek neo-Nazi leaders detained on criminal charges

Athens (AFP) - The leader of Greece's Golden Dawn party was taken to a high-security prison Thursday pending his trial on criminal charges, as part of a major government crackdown on the neo-Nazi group.

Nikos Michaloliakos is the first Greek party leader to be put behind bars in at least three decades.

He was transferred to the Korydallos prison in west Athens on Thursday afternoon, hours after being charged with running a criminal organisation.

The 56-year-old faces at least 10 years in jail if convicted. No trial date has been set yet.

His detention is the most high-profile development yet in efforts by Greek authorities to dismantle Golden Dawn -- which has 18 members in the 300-seat parliament -- after last month's murder of an anti-fascist musician by a self-confessed neo-Nazi provoked national outrage.

The second most powerful figure in Golden Dawn, Christos Pappas, was also taken into custody on Thursday charged with helping to run a criminal organisation, bringing the total number of MPs from the party in detention to three.

"This is the most dynamic treatment towards a neo-Nazi criminal organisation in European history, perhaps in world history," government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou told Antenna TV.

Golden Dawn was the country's third most popular party until last month's killing of hip-hop artist Pavlos Fyssas sparked street protests, putting pressure on Greek officials to take action against a group long accused of attacking immigrants, charges that it denies.

"The investigation does not stop here, it will be continued and expanded," Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Dendias told the Eleftherotypia daily.

"We will get to the end, we will fight them everywhere."

Dozens of Golden Dawn supporters gathered outside the court late on Wednesday, carrying Greek flags and chanting "Blood, honour, Golden Dawn", as Michaloliakos -- a mathematician and former disciple of Greek dictator George Papadopoulos -- arrived to deliver his testimony.

Four other Golden Dawn lawmakers were on Wednesday charged with belonging to a criminal group, in the first ever indictment against neo-Nazi MPs in Greece.

Three were released pending trial while Yiannis Lagos was remanded in custody after police reportedly discovered he had spoken to members of a gang that ambushed Fyssas on the night he was killed.

Lagos was also moved to Korydallos prison on Thursday, along with a Golden Dawn district leader and a female police officer accused of aiding the group.

In total, some two dozen people including six Golden Dawn lawmakers face charges ranging from attempted homicide and murder to illegal arms possession and belonging to a criminal organisation.

A large, complex legal battle

Magistrates have compiled a large dossier on Golden Dawn, whose key figures the conservative-led government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras wants to see behind bars.

Golden Dawn denies all the accusations and says it is the victim of political persecution designed to stem its rise ahead of local elections next year.

The party's deputy leader Pappas on Thursday voiced defiance in the face of the crackdown.

"Golden Dawn will contest elections whenever they are held," Pappas shouted at reporters as he was led to hear the charges against him.

Once a fringe party, Golden Dawn capitalised on growing public discontent in a country hard hit by the economic crisis, and was first elected to parliament last year with nearly seven percent of the vote.

By going after Golden Dawn, the government "is trying to convince some 400,000 Golden Dawn voters that they were wrong", political analyst Ilias Nikolakopoulos told AFP.

But he warned the group's supporters were "a very unpredictable electorate", noting that some Golden Dawn voters could be drawn to the far-left anti-austerity Syriza, Greece's main opposition party.

Investigations launched after Fyssas's September 18 murder uncovered close ties between Golden Dawn and Greek police, something rights and migrant groups had warned about for years.

Legal observers say judges handling the Golden Dawn cases are facing a complex web of charges, and warn of a potentially lengthy legal process.

A Supreme Court report has linked Golden Dawn to two murders, including the stabbing death of Fyssas, three attempted murders and numerous assaults.