The Misdemeanor Court of Mesologi has found three men guilty of attacks against Roma gypsies in Aetoliko in October 2012 and handed out eight-month suspended sentences.
The three men, Yannis Karadimas, Sotiris Karvelis and Panagiotis Stamoulis, are all associated with Golden Dawn and were found to have been in charge of attacks carried out in the area. The three claimed to have been elsewhere during the attacks, however the court was not convinced by the statement of provided by a witness.
During the court proceedings the prosecution publicized a photograph that shows one of the three convicted men on the side of Golden Dawn MP Kostas Barbarousis during an assault carried out in the open-air market of Mesologi in September 2012. Some local residents claim that the attacks did not necessarily have racist motives, claiming that a number of Roma gypsies were involved in petty crimes against elderly.
This case, along with four other documented attacks against Roma gypsies in the same area, have been included in the case file that prosecutor Isidoros Dogiakos has put together regarding the criminal activities of the neo-Nazi party.
