Greece lifts immunity of Golden Dawn lawmakers

[YahooNews]

Athens (AFP) - Greece's parliament on Wednesday lifted the legal immunity of six lawmakers from the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, broadening a high-profile probe into the group's alleged criminal activities.

More than two-thirds of parliament voted to strip the MPs of their immunity, two of whom -- Ilias Kassidiaris and Ilias Panagiotaros -- were already charged earlier this month with belonging to a criminal organisation. They were freed pending trial.

The four others -- George Germenis, Efstathios Boukouras, Panagiotis Iliopoulos and Chrysovalantis Alexopoulos -- are now also set to face charges, as part of a crackdown on Golden Dawn sparked by last month's murder of an anti-fascist musician by a self-confessed neo-Nazi.

The party, the country's third most popular, has 18 lawmakers overall in the 300-seat chamber.

Three other Golden Dawn lawmakers -- including leader Nikos Michaloliakos and his deputy Christos Pappas -- are being held in a high security Athens prison on charges of running or belonging to a criminal group.

No trial date has been set for the trio. If convicted, they face at least 10 years in prison.

Neo-Nazi lawmakers walked out before Wednesday's vote, dismissing the investigation into the party's activities as a "conspiracy".

Court documents have linked Golden Dawn to two murders, three attempted murders and numerous assaults.

Witnesses have also testified that senior party members were involved in migrant beatings, extortion and possible arms smuggling.

In a next move, Greek authorities are seeking to cut the party's access to state funding, with a vote to take place on Thursday.

But owing to constitutional safeguards designed to protect political freedom, observers say Golden Dawn lawmakers are unlikely to lose their parliamentary seats even if they were to be imprisoned.

Any attempt to ban the party would also be legally complicated, and government officials have already said it would be preferable to expose Golden Dawn's alleged criminal activities to its own voters, rather than make political martyrs out of its leaders.

The September 18 murder of hip hop artist Pavlos Fyssas by a Golden Dawn supporter triggered public outrage, putting pressure on Greek authorities to take action against Golden Dawn.

Having long been accused by migrant groups of turning a blind eye, police are now probing a string of violent incidents blamed on the group.

Several officers have been arrested in connection with the investigation.

Formerly on the fringe of Greek politics, Golden Dawn skyrocketed to popularity by tapping into widespread anger over immigration and austerity reforms in a country slogging through its sixth year of recession and where youth unemployment stands at 60 percent.

Golden Dawn denies all the charges against it, and claims it is the victim of a smear campaign ahead of next year's local elections.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Greek media said that a cache of weapons found in a fugitive shipowner's villa in southern Athens could be linked to Golden Dawn.

Witness testimony has already indicated that the party is thought to be in possession of unlicensed firearms which it used to train elite members.

Police late on Tuesday found 20 firearms, 60 daggers and nearly a dozen laser rangefinders in the villa of Anastassios Pallis, who is wanted on money laundering charges.

Two unidentified shipowners are believed to be among the party's financial backers, according to witnesses.



Source: Greece lifts immunity of Golden Dawn lawmakers