The choice of venue has sparked reactions from the municipal authority, which says the trial is going to seriously disrupt the Korydallos area and a large number of schools in the area, as well as lawyers and the media, who say the venue is too small and lacks the facilities they need to properly do their job, both to mount a defence and for its coverage.
Lawyers and the Greek and foreign journalists covering the trial note the complexity of the case, with 69 defendants on trial, more than 100 defence lawyers representing them and numerous attorneys representing civil suits in the case, as well as 130 witnesses for the prosecution alone.
The 69 defendants include all the MPs in Golden Dawn's previous Parliamentary group, who are going to face a Three-Justice Criminal Appeals court that is called on to decide whether the party is a Nazi formation with coordinated criminal action. The court's final ruling could also have repercussions on a political level, depending on whether the party is declared illegal or if the criminal activities of its members are judged to be "isolated incidents" unconnected to the party's choices.
Three of the defendants do not face charges for the key offence in the case - the murder of musician Pavlos Fyssas - but only on secondary charges. They include the wife of the main suspect for the stabbing George Roupakias, Margarita Mikelatou, who is only charged with perjury, Theodoros Stefas who is charged with illegal weapons possession and Anastasios Hilios, who is charged with weapons possession and with dealing and possession of drugs.
Also up on charges are two former Golden Dawn MPs, Stathis Boukouras and Chrysovalantis Alexopoulos, who denounced the party and its practices during the course of the investigation, resigning from its Parliamentary group to become independents. In spite of this, Boukouras is still charged with leading a Golden Dawn 'attack squad' in the area of Corinth during racist attacks, while Alexopoulos is charged with "public hate rhetoric" against the democratic state and against groups targeted by the far right party as "racial or political enemies".
The judicial investigation into Golden Dawn's activities was launched after the murder of Pavlos Fyssas by George Roupakias on September 18, 2013 in Keratsini (Piraeus), during an attack also involving other Golden Dawn supporters. An investigation of the incident showed that members of the party had coordinated their actions on that evening, instructing Roupakias to go to the location where Fyssas and his friends could be found. Acting on a letter sent by then public order minister Nikos Dendias, Supreme Court Prosecutor Efterpi Koutzamani ordered that the preliminary investigation expand to include a series of racist attacks that had been reported and had stagnated as isolated cases throughout Greece.
This led to a report by Supreme Court Deputy Prosecutor Haralambos Vourliotis describing Golden Dawn as an "active Nazi-type criminal organisation operating since 1987 to the present day with a military structure, hierarchy and branches throughout the country."
In September 2013 we witnessed the arrest and prosecution of Nikos Mihaloliakos and leading party members, many of whom were remanded in custody, and an investigation by examining magistrates lasting several months that produced a 700-page case against Golden Dawn, which was described as a well-organised group set up to commit illegal actions under the guise of a political party.
The case comes to trial with an Appeals Justices' Council indictment that also includes the minority opinion of Appeals Justice Nikos Salatas, who presented the case, raising questions about whether the criminal organisation charge is solidly supported by the evidence presented. (Some obviously believe that it is not.)
In addition to the Fyssas murder, the trial is also expected to investigate the party's role in the murder of a Pakistani worker, attacks on Communist Party of Greece (KKE) members in Perama, attacks on Egyptian fishermen, attacks on centres in the area of Ilioupoli (Athens), on the island of Crete and in other areas. The prosecution's proposal stresses the Nazi-type structure of the party, Mihaloliakos' leading role and the fact that its action peaked after 2012 when GD entered Parliament.
ANA-MPA
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