️ A Greek appeals court on Wednesday upheld the 2020 convictions of leaders and associates of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party for running a criminal organization. ️ A panel of five judges at the Criminal Appeal Court in Athens unanimously confirmed the sentences of 42 party members and affiliates... who had appealed, reinforcing the landmark ruling. ️ Party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, sentenced to 13 years in prison, was released on parole last year due to health reasons. ️ Greece's conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed the decision, stating it closes a "traumatic chapter" in the country's parliamentary life. ️ Golden Dawn was founded as a neo-Nazi party in the 1980s and rose to prominence during Greece's financial crisis, holding parliamentary seats from 2012 to 2019. ️ The party built its national profile on an anti-austerity and anti-immigrant agenda, but a criminal investigation began after the 2013 murder of left-wing rapper Pavlos Fyssas. ️ The party member who fatally stabbed Fyssas was found guilty of murder in 2020, and the appeals court also upheld that conviction.
