The prosecutor at Greece’s Five-Member Court of Appeal for Felonies, Kyriaki Stefanatou, has called on Wednesday for the conviction of all defendants in the Golden Dawn case, urging the court to find all 42 accused guilty as charged and fully adopting the prosecution’s indictment.
The case concerns the formation and operation of a criminal organization, the murder of anti-fascist musician Pavlos Fyssas in 2013, and a violent attack on Egyptian fishermen. In her closing argument, the prosecutor offered a detailed, individual assessment of the actions of former Golden Dawn members of parliament, drawing on public statements, documented behavior and evidentiary material, while systematically rejecting the arguments put forward by the defense.
Special emphasis was placed on the role of Nikos Michaloliakos, the founder and longtime leader of Golden Dawn, whom the prosecutor described as the organization’s absolute and undisputed head, exercising full knowledge and oversight of its activities. According to the prosecution, Michaloliakos openly espoused Nazi ideology, while his public statements often shifted depending on the audience, with later claims that his remarks had been misunderstood.
The prosecutor argued that Golden Dawn sought to impose a violent, para-state mechanism that aimed to replace core state functions, including the policing of migrants through the unlawful “checking” of residence documents. She also noted that the organization did not hesitate to issue threats against institutional figures, including the then mayor of Athens, Giorgos Kaminis. Michaloliakos, she said, had repeatedly expressed contempt for democracy.
In a broader political and historical reflection, the prosecutor added that the defendants, and Michaloliakos in particular, failed to recognize that democracy - despite being imperfect, fragile and complex - remains superior because it allows societies to correct their mistakes.
Those charged with participation in the criminal organization include the entire 18-member parliamentary group elected in 2012 under the Golden Dawn banner, at a time when the far-right party had entered the Greek parliament. Seven former MPs have already been convicted at first instance of directing a criminal organization, while another 11 former lawmakers were convicted of membership in that organization. Among them are Michaloliakos’s wife, Eleni Zaroulia, as well as several other prominent party figures, who received first-instance prison sentences ranging from five to seven years, with mitigating circumstances recognized in four cases.
An additional 24 defendants, including Giorgos Roupakias - the man convicted of carrying out the fatal stabbing of Fyssas - are being tried as members of the criminal organization and face further charges related either to the murder of Fyssas or to the violent assault on the Egyptian fishermen.
