'Damning evidence' found by prosecutors probing Golden Dawn leaders' activities

11 Dec 2013

Greek magistrates investigating alleged criminal activities of the extreme-right Golden Dawn party have reportedly found damning evidence against the party which could lead to it being declared a criminal organization. Ioanna Klappa and Maria Dimitropoulou, tasked with probing the activities of Golden Dawn are sifting through hundreds of files on four computers seized from the homes of party leader Nikos Michaliliakos, spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris, and Golden Dawn lawmakers Yiannis Lagos and Nikos Michos.

Party leader Michaloliakos (in blue shirt) with Golden Dawn supportersAccording to Greek media reports, one of the computers contains a video of a speech by Michaloliakos - currently held in custody - dating from before the 2012 elections that swept the party into parliament.
"They say that we, nationalists, are bad fascists. The truth is that they are not wrong. Our goal is not to improve those who are in Parliament today, to fix the political forces that are corrupt and at their end, but to finish them off, once and for all," Michaloliakos is allegedly seen on the video as saying.

The seized material is also said to contain a plethora of files and photographs suggesting the party's neo-Nazi affiliations, which the Golden Dawn leaders have publicly denied, such as photographs of members giving the Nazi salute and posters imprinted with Nazi slogans.

In one video, a party member is allegedly seen telling a gathering of Golden Dawn supporters that they "have to kill the Jew hiding inside us."

Another party member swearing in new recruits is seen as saying: "Those who complain but won't get up off their couches are worms and we will crush them underfoot like worms." He adds: "Others swing between the left and right, but we don't care that they're swinging because they'll be swinging by their necks."

Images leaked to the media show Ilias Kasidiaris brandishing a number of firearms in photographs and leading paramilitary-style training of Golden Dawn members. There are also pictures of Golden Dawn members wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit. The evidence could be enough for magistrates to bring charges under Article 135 of the Greel Penal Code, which deals with cases of treason, media in Greece report.