Greece freezes state funding for far-right Golden Dawn party

Greek assembly votes 235-0 to suspend state funding for Nazi-inspired Golden Dawn party
whose leadership stand accused of criminal activities

Anti-terror police officers escort Nikos Michaloliakos, leader of the Golden Dawn party at the courthouse in Athens,

12:51AM BST 23 Oct 2013
Greek lawmakers voted late on Tuesday to suspend state funding for political parties accused of
criminal activities, a measure targeting the Nazi-inspired Golden Dawn group.
The proposal was backed by the conservative-led governing coalition, the main opposition and a small
left wing party – and was voted 235-0 in the 300 seat assembly.
It allows an indefinite funding freeze for parties whose leadership is charged with involvement in a
criminal group, or terrorism.

Golden Dawn is under a criminal investigation sparked by last month's fatal stabbing of a Greek rap
singer, an attack blamed on a party volunteer. Its leader and two lawmakers have been jailed in pretrial10/23/13 Greece freezes state funding for far-right Golden Dawnparty - Telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/10398363/Greece-freezes-state-funding-for-far-right-Golden-Dawn-party.html 2/3
custody as alleged members of a criminal organisation, and another six lawmakers have been stripped
of immunity from prosecution to face similar charges.
None of the party leadership has been charged with any direct connection to the killing.
Thorbjoern Jagland, the head of the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights agency,
praised the crackdown, but said care must be taken to ensure fair trials.
"I would like to commend the Greek government for having taken action immediately, and very strong
action. I think it's very important to differentiate between political work and criminal acts," Jagland
told The Associated Press in an interview at the start of a two-day visit to Athens to discuss combating
extremism and hate speech.
Golden Dawn says the prosecution of its members is politically motivated.
The fatal stabbing last month led to increasing calls for the party to be banned outright. But Jagland
cautioned that could backfire, with similar cases elsewhere in Europe leading to parties re-emerging
under different names, or going underground where they are harder to monitor and regulate.
"What is very important is to go after people that are doing crimes, and not mixing up that with
politics," said Jagland, who also heads the committee which awards the Nobel Peace Prize.
He didn't comment directly on the party funding bill, saying this was "up to the Greek government," but
noted that such a move would not contravene European human rights laws.
"It is actually in most European countries unlawful to do hate speech, incitement to violence, open
racism and also denial of the Holocaust," he said.
During a meeting with Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias, the Council of Europe head also offered
the support of the organisation's legal experts in seeking ways to deal with the Golden Dawn issue.
Jagland was also to meet Wednesday with Greece's prime minister and the ministers for justice and
foreign affairs.
Formerly a fringe party, Golden Dawn's popularity soared in recent years as the country sank into a
financial depression and unemployment spiralled. Running on an anti-immigrant campaign, it won 18
seats in Parliament and nearly 7 per cent of the vote in 2012 elections.
Party members and supporters have long been blamed for violent attacks, mostly against dark-skinned10/23/13 Greece freezes state funding for far-right Golden Dawnparty - Telegraph
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immigrants but also against left-wing political opponents and gays. Golden Dawn denies any
involvement.
"This legal amendment belongs in the trash – it's illegal and unconstitutional," Golden Dawn
spokesman and parliament member Ilias Kasidiaris said before the vote.
"They have made this attack on us based on false testimony ... We are the only political party that
doesn't play ball with the corrupt system. That is why they are after us."
Edited by Steve Wilson