Greek police arrest 5 MPs in crackdown on neo-Nazi party

ATHENS: The head of Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party was facing a charge of leading a criminal organisation yesterday after he was arrested by anti-terror police along with four fellow MPS.

Party founder Nikos Michaloliakos and the four Golden Dawn lawmakers were held overnight after they were arrested in dawn raids Saturday amid high tensions in Greece following the murder of a leftist musician, who was allegedly stabbed to death by a party activist.

They were placed under judicial investigation along with 10 other party members facing likely charges of belonging to a criminal organisation, a court source said. Michaloliakos faces an additional charge of leading a criminal organisation.

The arrests came a day after Golden Dawn threatened to pull its lawmakers out of parliament, a move that could trigger a political crisis in the recession-hit country. Greek anti-terror police arrested Michaloliakos, who founded the party in 1980, along with party spokesman and MP Ilias Kasidiairis and three other lawmakers.

The five will remain under arrest pending the outcome of a judicial investigation into the possible charges to be laid, a process of up to five days, a court source said. The serious nature of the case could lead to discussion in parliament to strip the deputies of their parliamentary immunity.

Golden Dawn faced mounting pressure after a self-confessed neo-Nazi was arrested over the fatal stabbing of popular hip-hop musician Pavlos Fyssas, 34, on September 18, a killing that sparked nationwide protests.

The police sweep came after Greece’s supreme court, which has been charged with investigating the far-right group, issued arrest warrants for some 30 members. Two policemen suspected of neo-Nazi links were among those arrested Saturday, while a sixth Golden Dawn MP is still being sought. Following the arrests, Golden Dawn urged its followers to demonstrate against what it called an “illegal decision”, and several hundred faithful gathered outside the police station where the suspects were being held.

Amid a sea of Greek flags, the protesters chanted the party’s slogan, “Blood, honour, Golden Dawn”, watched over by anti-riot police. “Golden Dawn is still there, it will not retreat. You can’t put its ideas in prison, we will fight to the end,” Artemis Matheopoulos, a party MP, said. — AFP