The mainstream media is having a field day with the Golden Dawn party, especially after members of the far-right party (or "Xrisi Avgi") destroyed and demolished several vending stalls operated by illegal immigrants at an Athens marketplace without a permit at the weekend.
The case is now being investigated by State authorities.
This is not the first time that the Golden Dawn party has raided marketplaces, in the battle against the black market. Watch the video above, common citizens speak about how the black market has destroyed the economy and increased the level of unemployment.
As expected, only the so-called "progressive "left" reacted. On Sunday morning two journalists on MEGA channel -one PASOK, the other SYRIZA- slammed the far-right party for the incidence, while statements were also released by all the political forces of the left.
Golden Dawn MP George Germenis said that he, together with other members, walked around the bazaar and listened to the problems of merchants and they noticed that there were several illegal immigrants trying to sell their merchandise there without the proper permits. They immediately informed police authorities, and then they destroyed their stalls.
Greek public order minister, Nikos Dentias, has made clear he will not tolerate any “usurpation of authority,” but let us not kid ourselves, the problem remains and it is forever growing.
In reply to the uproar, the Golden Dawn party said in a statement that the state should stop protecting the black market, and illegal immigrants.
"The leadership of the Protection of the Citizen Ministry operates from Greek taxpayers income, but it refuses to crackdown on the black market and the illegal immigration issue." It added that in the State's desperate attempt to justify its tolerance of the problem with contraband products and multi-billion euro black market, they (STate) instead "accuse MPs and members of the Golden Dawn party of usurping authority" and destroying "foreign-owned property".
The press release also notes that the Golden Dawn MPs performed these routine checks "as common everyday citizens who have every right to know if a sale item is a contraband product or not."
They then called on the State (and the Greek mass media) to once again read Article 275 of the Criminal Procedure Code concerning the legal rights of the Greek citizen who has every right to make an arrest of a flagrant offender for a misdemeanor. The press release adds, that the above law should also be reviewed in combination with Articles 259 and 15 of the Penal Code regarding criminal responsibilities (illegal smuggling of goods, and the acceptance and availability of illegal goods).
It concludes: "Tolerance to the black market, is complicity. The Golden Dawn party is simply acting on the demands of thousands of Greek merchants, and legal street vendors who have suffered greatly from the scourge of the black market and tough austerity measures and will continue to fight on two fronts - against government injustice and (anything) that is illegal."
Read follow-up to the story by clicking here
Editor's Note - Certainly this is not the correct method to tackle the problem of the black market, but the Greek state has done nothing about it for decades. Around 90 percent of the vendors of contraband products are illegal immigrants. Most sell cheap goods, in order to get by, but let us not kid ourselves this is all tax-free, or as we say in North America "under the table" money. When funds are not declared, VAT is not paid, then this simply takes away from the citizen and the State's social structure and what's worse, common citizens are taxed more because of it! Also, most of the illegal immigrants who are currently living in Greece and engage in this activity send the money they earn back to their country of origin, and therefore this money is taken out of Greece. It is a vicious cycle, and an issue that has to definitely be looked over by the State more seriously. We do not support violence, or the methods used by the Golden Dawn party in this case, but we will not condemn them either because we also see the other side of the coin which is the common everyday taxpayer and how much he has suffered from this. We believe strongly that the State is simply being "politically correct" at the mercy of "progressive" media giants who still direct public opinion and highly support the issue of illegal immigration. Anything that goes against their new pool of voters and supporters is placed on a blacklist. And what is worse... the media will not stop throwing mud at any direction if its interests here are trampled on. Talk about who is in power! That is why we suggest that the State should handle this issue very cleverly. It should begin cracking down on the Golden Boys or those responsible for importing these goods to Greece and who use illegal immigrants to distribute these goods on the Greek market. It would indeed be interesting to see who supports such activity! Certainly its not you or I... it's always someone of great wealth... who probably does not pay a dime in taxes! Let's see if our hunch is true... Are those who present illegal vendors as victims, the culprits themselves? And if Yes then if destroying a stall is a form of criminal activity, how do we refer to them and characterize their activity? E?
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