The government appears to be determined to put an end to the illegal activities of Golden Dawn, with Prime Minister Samaras considering an expansion of the legal definition of a “criminal organization”.
To that end, Mr. Samaras had a private discussion with the Ministers of Justice and Public Order, Athanasiou and Dendias respectively, in order to determine the best course of action. The new definition of a criminal organization will include unarmed groups. Despite the changes the PM wishes to introduce, the Minister of Justice has stated that current legislation is sufficient to prosecute Golden Dawn.
The changes to the legislation regarding the composition of criminal organizations will be included in an upcoming “anti-racism” bill. Until then however, the government will have to rely on current legislation to deal with Golden Dawn.
The government Vice President Evangelos Venizelos was interviewed by Vima 99.5 FM and was in favor of updating the current legislation, since it has not been effective in combating many crimes. Mr. Venizelos underlined that “we are dealing with a criminal organization with the guise of a political party”.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Public Order Nikos Dendias passed on to the Supreme Court about 30 case files involving Golden Dawn members and supporters. The police will continue its investigations in Golden Dawn offices.
Senior government officers have suggested that a lot is at stake in these investigations and that there are thoughts of charging Golden Dawn’s leader Michaloliakos with inciting crimes in the past.
“Two extremes” theory continues to divide
The theory of “two extremes” that the Prime Minister’s consultant Christos Lazaridis has supported, according to which opposition leaders SYRIZA are a “non-democratic party” continues to divide New Democracy.
The Minister of Administrative Reform Kyriakos Mitsotakis, MPs Dora Bakoyanni, Prokopis Pavlopoulos and many others have expressed their objection to Mr. Lazaridis’ comments. Despite invoking the theory in the past, Mr. Samras avoided referencing the theory in his statement about Fyssas’ murder, instead calling for unity.
