Following a summer break, the Golden Dawn trial resumes on Monday at the Felony Appeal Courts, where a new number of MPs and party members are facing charges for participating an a criminal organization that has carried out violent and lethal assaults.
The trial began after the murder of antifascis activist and rapper Pavlos Fyssas from Giorgos Roupakias, a member of the neo-Nazi party in September 2013. Witnesses revealed that a 40-strong ‘assault group’ was activated within 15 minutes, after the Golden Dawn members received text messages on their mobile phones.
The group arrived on motorcycles and cars carrying bats and other weapons. This is a central aspect of the prosecution’s case, which aims to demonstrate how the criminal organization acted coordinated and organized.
During the examination of witnesses in court, police officers who were called out to the scene of the murder claimed that they “did their best”, only for the court president to respond that all they did was arrest a man who was sitting in a car (Roupakias) after the victim identified him and “nothing more”.
There have been allegations that Golden Dawn and police officers have colluded on occasion. The Golden Dawn defense team has attempted to raise doubts over witness credibility and attribute the attack and murder to a football-related quarrel that escalated.
After the trial for the Fyssas murder has concluded, the court will examine an attack against Egyptian fishermen in Perama, in June 2012. According to the case file, a group of Golden Dawn members arrived on motorcycle outside the home of the fishermen, where they smashed windows, threw flares and broke in. Three of the fishermen managed to escape, while a fourth who was sleeping was viciously assaulted.
In this case the main defendants are the head of the Golden Dawn offices in Perama Anastasios Pantazis, Konstantinos Papadopoulos, Dimitrios Agriogiannis, Thomas Marias and Markos Evgenikos.
