After a five-year trial, a Greek court sentenced the leader of a far-right, anti-immigrant party to 13 years in prison. The sentencing follows a guilty verdict last week, when the party was ruled a criminal organization.
Nikos Michaloliakos, the leader of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, and six associates “were convicted of heading a criminal group,” according to the BBC, following the murder of an anti-fascist musician in 2013. Sixty-eight members were on trial in total, and 50 other members of the party were convicted of conspiracy or criminal activity. Giorgos Roupakias, a Golden Dawn member, received a life sentence for the murder of anti-fascist musician Pavlos Fyssas.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, “Democracy won today” after the verdict was announced. President Katerina Sakellaropoulou said Wednesday’s “historic” ruling “confirmed that democracy and its institutions will always be able to overcome any attempt to undermine them,” according to Barron’s.
Michaloliakos tweeted after the verdict was announced that he would “fight to the end” to overturn his conviction.
Michaloliakos and the other Golden Dawn party members were also convicted of several other “violent attacks on migrants and left-wing political opponents,” according to the BBC. The trial involved hundreds of witnesses.
According to Euro News, the court found that 68 members of Golden Dawn were aware of or had ordered the murder of Fyssas and other violent crimes.
Roughly 2,000 police were positioned around the appeals court in Athens Wednesday during the hearing as thousands of protesters gathered to demand lengthy jail terms. Banners among the protesters read “fear will not win” and “Nazis in prison,” according to Greek media.
Some protesters clashed with police.
Golden Dawn was founded by Michaloliakos in the mid-1980s. According to the BBC, he was an admirer of Nazism and had denied the Holocaust. According to witnesses at the trial, members of the party were trained to handle weapons and use Nazi symbols. The party reached the height of political power in 2013, when it won 18 seats in the Greek Parliament. In 2019, it failed to win a single seat.
