Greek court imprisons far-right Golden Dawn party leadership
Greek court imprisons far-right Golden Dawn party leadership
Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, leaves his residence in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.A court has sentenced Michaloliakos and the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, center, leaves his residence in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.A court has sentenced Michaloliakos and the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos waves as he leaves his residence in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.A court has sentenced Michaloliakos and the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti reads the sentences during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Magda Fyssa, the mother of late Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed and killed by a supporter of the extreme right Golden Dawn party in 2013 triggering a crackdown on the party, is comforted after she overcame with emotion, at a court in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti consults a fellow judge as she reads the sentences during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Magda Fyssa, center, the mother of late Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed and killed by a supporter of the extreme right Golden Dawn party in 2013 triggering a crackdown on the party, is comforted after she overcame with emotion, at a court in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Magda Fyssa, the mother of late Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed and killed by a supporter of the extreme right Golden Dawn party in 2013 triggering a crackdown on the party, overcomes with emotion, at a court in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Magda Fyssa, center, the mother of late Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed and killed by a supporter of the extreme right Golden Dawn party in 2013 triggering a crackdown on the party, is comforted after she overcame with emotion, at a court in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti consults a fellow judge as she reads the sentences during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti, right and Prosecutor Adamantia Economou, left, arrive at court during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of Golden Dawn, an organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, leaves his residence in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. A court has sentenced Michaloliakos and the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti reads the sentences during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of Golden Dawn, an organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, leaves his residence in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.A court has sentenced Michaloliakos and the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, leaves his residence in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.A court has sentenced Michaloliakos and the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, center, leaves his residence in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.A court has sentenced Michaloliakos and the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, center, leaves his residence in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.A court has sentenced Michaloliakos and the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos waves as he leaves his residence in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.A court has sentenced Michaloliakos and the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos waves as he leaves his residence in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.A court has sentenced Michaloliakos and the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti reads the sentences during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti reads the sentences during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Magda Fyssa, the mother of late Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed and killed by a supporter of the extreme right Golden Dawn party in 2013 triggering a crackdown on the party, is comforted after she overcame with emotion, at a court in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Magda Fyssa, the mother of late Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed and killed by a supporter of the extreme right Golden Dawn party in 2013 triggering a crackdown on the party, is comforted after she overcame with emotion, at a court in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti consults a fellow judge as she reads the sentences during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti consults a fellow judge as she reads the sentences during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Magda Fyssa, center, the mother of late Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed and killed by a supporter of the extreme right Golden Dawn party in 2013 triggering a crackdown on the party, is comforted after she overcame with emotion, at a court in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Magda Fyssa, center, the mother of late Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed and killed by a supporter of the extreme right Golden Dawn party in 2013 triggering a crackdown on the party, is comforted after she overcame with emotion, at a court in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Magda Fyssa, the mother of late Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed and killed by a supporter of the extreme right Golden Dawn party in 2013 triggering a crackdown on the party, overcomes with emotion, at a court in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Magda Fyssa, the mother of late Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed and killed by a supporter of the extreme right Golden Dawn party in 2013 triggering a crackdown on the party, overcomes with emotion, at a court in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Magda Fyssa, center, the mother of late Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed and killed by a supporter of the extreme right Golden Dawn party in 2013 triggering a crackdown on the party, is comforted after she overcame with emotion, at a court in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Magda Fyssa, center, the mother of late Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed and killed by a supporter of the extreme right Golden Dawn party in 2013 triggering a crackdown on the party, is comforted after she overcame with emotion, at a court in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti consults a fellow judge as she reads the sentences during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti consults a fellow judge as she reads the sentences during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti, right and Prosecutor Adamantia Economou, left, arrive at court during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of Golden Dawn, an organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti, right and Prosecutor Adamantia Economou, left, arrive at court during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of Golden Dawn, an organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, leaves his residence in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. A court has sentenced Michaloliakos and the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, leaves his residence in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. A court has sentenced Michaloliakos and the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of the organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti reads the sentences during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of Golden Dawn, an organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti reads the sentences during the Golden Dawn trial, in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. The court has sentenced the leadership of Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. The landmark ruling follows a five-year trial of dozens of top officials, members, and supporters of Golden Dawn, an organization founded as a Neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, that rose to become Greece’s third-largest political party during a major financial crisis in the previous decade.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Former lawmakers of Greece’s extreme right-wing Golden Dawn party began turning themselves in to authorities Thursday, after a court ordered their imprisonment following their convictions for running the party like a criminal organization.
In the final act of a marathon five-year, politically charged trial, the three-judge panel ordered a total of 39 people, including 13 former lawmakers, jailed, rejecting appeals for suspended sentences.
It ruled 12 others, including five former lawmakers, would remain free pending their appeals.
Thursday’s decision came after two weeks of summations by defense lawyers following the prosecutor’s recommendation that all former Golden Dawn lawmakers be allowed to remain free pending appeal. The appeals process could take several years.
Those surrendering to authorities Thursday included party leader Nikos Michaloliakos and other former lawmakers who were convicted of leading a criminal organization. Michaloliakos and another five former lawmakers received 13-year prison sentences, while a sixth was sentenced to 10 years.
The party, founded as a neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, remained a fringe group for decades before rising to prominence during the country’s 2010-2018 financial crisis, winning parliament seats in four separate elections and becoming Greece’s third-largest political party. It has been blamed for multiple hate crimes, including brutal street attacks on immigrants and left-wing activists.
Its popularity waned during the trial, and it failed to win any parliament seats in 2019 elections.
Eleven former Golden Dawn lawmakers convicted of simple participation received sentences of between five and seven years. Michaloliakos’ wife, Eleni Zaroulia, was among the five of those who received conditional suspended sentences.
Bail conditions include bans on leaving the country, payment of 20,000 euros ($23,700) each and appearing at their local police station twice a month.
“I am proud to be going to jail for my ideas. Some people at some time will be ashamed for taking this decision,” Michaloliakos told reporters outside his Athens home after the court decision was announced. “We will be vindicated by history and by the Greek people.”
The trial involved 68 defendants, dozens of lawyers and encompassed four cases, including the 2013 fatal stabbing of left-wing Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas and physical attacks on Egyptian fishermen and left-wing activists.
Fyssas’s killer, Giorgos Roupakias, was also ordered to begin serving his life sentence.
Fyssas’s mother Magda Fyssa, who became an emblematic figure in the fight against Golden Dawn and attended all hearings over the past five years, was in court for the trial’s conclusion.
“I don’t think Pavlos is vindicated. I think the vindication is for us, for these people who fight to prove that (Golden Dawn) truly is a criminal organization in the guise of a political party,” she said.
Lawyers representing the victims expressed satisfaction with Thursday’s decision.
“Today is a day of victory and a day of justice. It is a day on which we might be crying, but we are crying with joy,” said Thanasis Kampagiannis, who represented the Egyptian fishermen. “The hundreds of migrants who were beaten, stabbed or even murdered by the Nazi organization are vindicated.”
A total of 57 party members and associates were convicted on Oct. 7, mostly for involvement in violent attacks and participating in a criminal organization.
Those ordered imprisoned Thursday include former party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris, who has since left Golden Dawn and founded his own political party, and current European Parliament member Ioannis Lagos, who also left Golden Dawn and currently lives in Brussels.
The defendants were not obliged to be in court for the hearing. Arrest orders will be issued for any of those ordered imprisoned who do not turn themselves in voluntarily.
One of the former lawmakers, Giorgos Germenis, proclaimed his innocence as he went to surrender to authorities. “This is a political prosecution,” he said, adding he had hope in the appeals process.
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Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed to this report.
