The General Staff of the Hellenic Army has launched an inquiry to investigate the brother of Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris, who is a second lieutenant in the Armed Forces and is depicted giving a Nazi salute in a photo recovered by the Police in their recent investigations.
Kasidiaris’ brother is depicted bare-chested in the photo and has a prominent tattoo on his stomach with the inscription “Chetnic” in Cyrillic writing, which is an ultranationalist and monarchist Serbian paramilitary organization that collaborated with the Axis during the Second World War.
The recent police investigation uncovered scores of pictures and videos featuring prominent party members candidly discussing the political beliefs, ideology and activities. Party leader Nikos Michaloliakos is shows dismissing the deaths during the Athens Polytechnic Uprising as “a fake story” or “coincidental ricochets”.
In one video Michaloliakos expressed his admiration for the military dictatorship “which did not leave any public debts”, while later he accused Jews of “owning monopolies and raising prices”. The Golden Dawn leader later stated “if we assume power, no more Pakistanis”.
In another video Michaloliakos explains that “we are accused of not doing anything in Attiki Squre, Kypseli and elsewhere, so then who is being stabbed to keep some areas Greek”. He then notes that the time for conflict has not yet arrives, which he defines as the moment “when we will sharpen bayonets on the sidewalks and everyone will know what it is to be with Golden Dawn”.
Ilias Kasidiaris appears in one video showing off his shooting skills as he fires a rifle against a sign post on a country road. Mr. Kasidiaris’ attorney Pavlos Sarakis claimed that this evidence has “no legal value” since they refer to “political opinions that are judged by the people and nobody else”.
