️ An appeal court in Athens has upheld the 2020 convictions of 42 defendants associated with the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. Founder Nikos Mihaloliakos and six other senior party officials were found guilty of 'belonging to and running a criminal organisation' under the guise of a political party. The defendants face sentences of up to 15 years in prison, though only two of the 42 involved in the appeal were present in court to hear the verdict.

️ The court also upheld convictions related to the 2013 murder of left-wing musician and activist Pavlos Fyssas and the brutal beating of a group of Egyptian fishermen in Athens. Prosecutor Kyriaki Stefanatou, in December last year, called on the court to uphold the original guilty verdicts. She stated that Golden Dawn was a 'genuine child of Nazi ideology and this is the motivation for their actions,' adding that 'Nazi ideology is the motivation for the criminal action carried out against political dissidents and immigrants.'

️ Golden Dawn entered the Greek parliament in 2012 at the height of Greece's economic crisis, securing third place in the election with 18 MPs. The party capitalized on growing public discontent fueled by corruption and mismanagement by established political parties, as well as drastic spending cuts enforced by international lenders and a rise in immigration to the EU. In 2013, MP Ilias Panagiotaros told the BBC that Greek society was 'ready... [for] a new type of civil war. On one side will be nationalists like us, and Greeks who want our country to be as it used to be. On the other will be illegal immigrants and anarchists.'

️ The party's popularity declined sharply after Fyssas's murder, for which about 22 members were arrested, including six MPs and party leader Mihaloliakos. Mihaloliakos has said his party accepted 'political responsibility' for the murder but rejected 'criminal responsibility.' A Golden Dawn supporter, Giorgos Roupakias, admitted to killing Fyssas and is one of the few party members currently in jail.

️ Mihaloliakos, a Holocaust denier, was released from prison on health grounds in September 2025, less than halfway through his 13-year sentence. Lawyers for the Fyssas family called the ruling 'scandalous.' Golden Dawn has failed to elect any MPs to parliament since 2019, but a far-right party called the Spartans has since emerged. Former Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris, now in custody, has endorsed the Spartans, who currently hold two seats in the Greek parliament.

Source: www.bbc.com