Greek Police Say 10 Officers Have Links to Golden Dawn

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

ATHENS — The Greek police on Wednesday announced the findings of an internal investigation into suspected links between the force and the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party, which is the focus of a criminal investigation, saying that 10 officers had been linked to the party but that no signs of “organized cells” affiliated with the group had been discovered.

The inquiry began last month, after the killing of an anti-fascist singer by a self-professed supporter of Golden Dawn. The killing was the culmination of a string of assaults attributed to members or supporters of the fiercely anti-immigrant party, which has 18 seats in Greece’s 300-member Parliament. Out of 319 police officers questioned, 15 were arrested on various charges, including illegal weapons possession and trading in contraband goods, and of those, 10 were found to have “direct or indirect involvement with the criminal activities of Golden Dawn,” according to the head of the police’s internal affairs unit, Panagiotis Stathis. The investigation found no “organized cells, factions or unconstitutional hubs” but highlighted “inadequate supervision” within the force, he added at a news conference. The 15 officers who were arrested were suspended pending the outcome of their cases, a police spokesman said.