️ An appeals 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.

️ Another 24 defendants, including 11 former MPs, were convicted of joining the organisation. The court also upheld convictions for the 2013 murder of left-wing musician and activist Pavlos Fyssas and the brutal beating of a group of Egyptian fishermen in Athens. The defendants face sentences of up to 15 years in prison, although only two of the 42 involved in the appeal were present in court to hear the verdict.

️ A crowd of over 200 gathered outside the tribunal and welcomed the guilty verdicts. The appeals trial began in 2022, and last December prosecutor Kyriaki Stefanatou 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."

️ Golden Dawn entered the Greek parliament in 2012 at the height of Greece's economic crisis, coming third in the election with 18 MPs elected. The party capitalised on growing public discontent fuelled 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 European Union.

️ 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' murder, for which around 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 killing Fyssas and is one of the few party members currently in jail. The court upheld his murder conviction and also found him guilty of membership in a criminal organisation.

️ Mihaloliakos, a Holocaust denier, was released from prison on health grounds in September 2025, having served less than half of 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.

️ A far-right party called the Spartans has since emerged. Former Golden Dawn party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris, now in custody, has endorsed the Spartans, who currently hold two seats in the Greek parliament.

Source: www.bbc.com