Greek neo-Nazi party faces fresh charges after state aid cut
Athens (AFP) - Greek authorities on Wednesday prepared to hit Golden Dawn with fresh indictments, hours after parliament suspended the neo-Nazi party's state funding as part of a crackdown prompted by the murder of an anti-fascist musician.
Magistrates were expected in a few days to press "more criminal charges" against three Golden Dawn lawmakers whose immunity from prosecution was lifted last week, a judicial source said.
Three other party lawmakers -- including leader Nikos Michaloliakos and deputy party leader Christos Pappas -- are already being held in a high-security Athens prison on charges of running or belonging to a criminal group.
In total so far, six Golden Dawn MPs have been charged in connection with the criminal investigation.
The party leader's wife Eleni Zaroulia, herself an MP, is likely to have her own parliamentary immunity lifted after she was found carrying a bullet whilst visiting her husband in custody.
No trial date has been set. If convicted, the indicted Golden Dawn lawmakers face at least 10 years in prison.
In a separate development, parliament adopted a bill early Wednesday suspending Golden Dawn's state funding by 235 votes out of 300 lawmakers.
Members of Golden Dawn called the move "unconstitutional" and abstained from voting, walking out of the chamber after the debate.
The measure says state aid is suspended "to a party where the leader... or a tenth of the elected members are under investigation for constituting or participating in a criminal organisation".
According to reports, the party has drawn 1.2 million euros ($1.6 million) in state funding this year.
Golden Dawn is Greece's third-most-popular party, with 18 seats in parliament.
Thorbjoern Jagland, chief of the pan-European human rights body the Council of Europe, praised the government's tough stance on Golden Dawn during a visit to Athens.
"One is not allowed to carry out acts of violence under the cover of political groupings or political ideology," Jagland said after a meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos, according to a ministry transcript.
"We fully support the government's (response), which is in line with rulings by the European Court of Human Rights," he added.
Authorities began a crackdown on the far-right group following the killing of a leftwing musician by a self-confessed neo-Nazi.
The September 18 murder of hip hop artist Pavlos Fyssas by a Golden Dawn supporter triggered public outrage, putting pressure on Greek authorities to take action against the party.
Having long been accused by migrant groups of turning a blind eye, police are now probing a string of violent incidents blamed on the group.
A number of police officers have also been arrested in connection with the investigation.
Court documents have linked Golden Dawn to two murders including that of Fyssas, three attempted murders and numerous assaults.
Witnesses have also testified that senior party members were involved in migrant beatings, extortion and possible arms smuggling.
Formerly on the fringe of Greek politics, Golden Dawn skyrocketed to popularity by tapping into widespread anger over immigration and austerity reforms in debt-wracked Greece, which is slogging through its sixth year of recession and where youth unemployment stands at 60 percent.
Golden Dawn denies all the charges against it, and claims it is the victim of a smear campaign ahead of local elections next year.
Observers say owing to constitutional safeguards designed to protect political freedom, Golden Dawn lawmakers are unlikely to lose their parliamentary seats even if convicted.
Any attempt to ban the party would also be legally complicated, and government officials have already said it would be preferable to expose Golden Dawn's alleged criminal activities to its own voters, rather than make political martyrs out of its leaders.
