Who's who of Greece's indicted Golden Dawn lawmakers
Athens (AFP) - Six lawmakers from Greece's neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party have been indicted this week for taking part in a criminal organisation, in a crackdown prompted by last month's murder of an anti-fascist musician by a supporter of the party.
Here are brief profiles of the accused:
NIKOS MICHALOLIAKOS
The party's founder and undisputed leader after over 30 years at the helm, Michaloliakos is a 56-year-old mathematician and former disciple of former Greek dictator George Papadopoulos, whom he met in prison after being jailed for assault and bombings.
Michaloliakos has denied the existence of Nazi crematoria and gas chambers and has expressed admiration for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in his writing and interviews.
He was remanded in custody on Thursday after magistrates said police wiretaps had proved a chain of communication between Michaloliakos and a gang that ambushed 34-year-old musician Pavlos Fyssas on the night of his murder.
CHRISTOS PAPPAS
Michaloliakos' second-in-command and a senior party ideologue, 51-year-old Pappas is the son of an army general who was a trusted associate of former dictator Papadopoulos.
Pappas, who ran a furniture store before becoming an MP in 2012, has acknowledged writing tracts praising Hitler. Police found a trove of Nazi and fascist memorabilia when raiding his house for evidence against the group.
He was placed in pre-trial detention on Thursday.
YIANNIS LAGOS
Brawny and menacing, 40-year-old Lagos has a long police record including extortion and the trafficking of women for prostitution, according to the magistrates' report on the case.
Lagos represents the broader district of Piraeus, near Athens, and on the night of Fyssas' murder, police reportedly found he had spoken to members of the gang that ambushed the victim.
He was remanded in custody on Wednesday.
ILIAS KASSIDIARIS
Golden Dawn's party spokesman and rising star, Kassidiaris is an athletic 33-year-old medical rep with a Nazi swastika tattoo on his arm and a notoriously short fuse.
Whilst campaigning for election last year, Kassidiaris lost his temper during a TV talk show and struck a female Communist lawmaker in the face.
According to case files, Kassidiaris conducts military-style training for party members.
After his conditional release on Wednesday, he warned media filming his exit from the Athens courts to "make way, stop recording or I'll start smashing things."
He then slapped a camera, kicked at a reporter and shoved another journalist to the ground.
ILIAS PANAGIOTAROS
The owner of an army surplus store in central Athens, 40-year-old Panagiotaros is a shaven-headed mound of muscle who is considered one of Golden Dawn's toughest frontline cadres.
Last year, he headed a protest against a play portraying Jesus Christ as homosexual and was caught on camera shouting anti-gay slurs.
A decade ago, Panagiotaros led the "Blue Army", a group of nationalist football fans involved in migrant beatings.
"Hatred is a healthy sentiment when it is directed against sub-humans," he said at the time.
He was released pending trial on Wednesday.
NIKOS MICHOS
Michos, a 44-year-old farmer, is a lesser-known Golden Dawn lawmaker.
In February, he told his constituents on the island of Evia that the country had been run by a "parliamentary junta" since 1974, the year in which a seven-year army dictatorship collapsed.
On Wednesday, he hissed to reporters covering his conditional release from detention: "Only with bullets can you stop us."
