Greece Struggles to Outlaw Its Golden Dawn Fascist Party

Conservative Government Mounts Risky Effort to Declare Group a Criminal Organization

By MARCUS WALKER and MARIANNA KAKAOUNAKI

Updated Dec. 4, 2013 11:37 p.m. ET
The Wall Street Journal

PIRAEUS, Greece—At a dark crossroads here in September, Greek police kept a safe distance while black-clad activists from the fascist movement Golden Dawn chased and attacked Pavlos Fyssas, a 34-year-old rapper.

The police had long been in the habit of standing by while Golden Dawn's paramilitary squads rolled into action, mirroring the hesitance of Greece's political leadership to deal with the growing movement's muscle. Only after a Golden Dawn member fatally stabbed the rapper did police officers make an arrest, according to 15 police and witness depositions.

Greece Struggles to Outlaw Its Golden Dawn Fascist Party

Conservative Government Mounts Risky Effort to Declare Group a Criminal Organization

The Wall Street Journal

By MARCUS WALKER and MARIANNA KAKAOUNAKI

Updated Dec. 4, 2013 11:37 p.m. ET

PIRAEUS, Greece—At a dark crossroads here in September, Greek police kept a safe distance while black-clad activists from the fascist movement Golden Dawn chased and attacked Pavlos Fyssas, a 34-year-old rapper.

Greeks fear more violence after Golden Dawn members shot dead

By Renee Maltezou

ATHENS | Sat Nov 2, 2013 11:22am EDT

(Reuters) - A brazen drive-by shooting that killed two young members of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party has shocked Greeks and prompted soul-searching about whether the crisis-hit country is slipping into a "cycle of violence".

Greece's anti-terrorism force is investigating whether Friday's rush hour shooting outside the party's offices in Athens was retaliation for a fatal stabbing of an anti-fascism rapper by a Golden Dawn supporter in September, police said.

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.

Greece’s Parliament Clears Way for More Charges Against 6 Right-Wing Lawmakers

The New York Times
By NIKI KITSANTONIS

ATHENS — As part of a widening effort to clamp down on violent extremism in Greece, the country’s Parliament moved on Wednesday to lift the immunity of six lawmakers of Golden Dawn, the neo-fascist anti-immigrant party prosecutors portray as a criminal organization involved in murder, attempted murder, blackmail and other crimes.

Leader of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn jailed before trial

By Lefteris Papadimas and Karolina Tagaris

ATHENS | Thu Oct 3, 2013 7:36am EDT

(Reuters) - The leader of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party was sent to jail on Thursday pending trial on criminal charges, the first time an elected party chief has been put behind bars since a military coup nearly five decades ago.

The imprisonment of Nikolaos Mihaloliakos, who has watched support for his party wane after a supporter fatally stabbed a popular rapper, is a reprieve for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's government that has vowed to wipe out the party, calling it a "gang of neo-Nazis".

Greece's Golden Dawn lawmakers freed before trial

By Renee Maltezou and Yorgos Karahalis

ATHENS | Wed Oct 2, 2013 1:45pm EDT

(Reuters) - Three senior lawmakers from Greece's far-right Golden Dawn were freed on Wednesday pending trial on criminal charges, an unexpected setback to the government's efforts to clamp down on a party it has labeled a neo-Nazi criminal gang.

The decision to free the men after an 18-hour court session raises questions about the solidity of the state's case against Golden Dawn after one of its sympathizers stabbed to death an anti-fascism rapper.

Greek Arrest of Far Rightists Bolsters Government, for Now

Greece Moves to Outlaw the Golden Dawn Party

By ALKMAN GRANITSAS and NEKTARIA STAMOULI

ATHENS—Greece's crackdown on the country's far-right Golden Dawn party, with the weekend arrest of the group's top leadership, is a needed fillip for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's fragile coalition government.

But the boost may be temporary if the social problems that fueled the group's rise—unemployment, corruption, collapsing public services—aren't soon addressed by a government not many Greeks support, analysts say. And correcting those issues could take some time.

"There will be some political gains for the government and particularly Mr. Samaras, but after that, if the economy continues to stumble, those benefits will evaporate and the Golden Dawn phenomenon will return," said John Dimakis, a political analyst at Athens-based consultancy STR. "The crackdown on Golden Dawn won't bring jobs, or investments, or growth. And Golden Dawn is an expression of social needs that the political system right now can't cover."

UPDATE 5-Greek police arrest leader, lawmakers of far-right Golden Dawn

Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:16am IST

* Biggest crackdown on elected party since fall of junta

* Party members charged with participating in criminal group

* "Nothing can scare us!" party spokesman says

* Government rules out snap elections

By Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos

ATHENS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Greek police arrested the leader and more than a dozen senior members of the far-right Golden Dawn party early on Saturday after the killing of an anti-fascist rapper by a party supporter triggered outrage and protests across the country.

Golden Dawn arrests take Greece into uncharted waters

The crackdown on the far-right party will undoubtedly release new tensions on to an already poisoned political scene

Helena Smith in Athens

The Observer, Saturday 28 September 2013 17.56 BST

Before his untimely death at the age of 34, Pavlos Fyssas was a hip-hop rapper popular on Greece's anti-fascist scene but little known beyond the frontiers of that music genre or the borders of the country itself. On the night of 17 September all that changed.