Trial of Greece’s Nazi-inspired Golden Dawn party adjourned
May 7, 2015, 4:42 AM
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A court set up in Greece’s largest prison for the trial of dozens of members of Greece’s extreme right Golden Dawn party was adjourned on Thursday until next week.
Sixty-nine people, including party leader Nikos Michaloliakos and members of parliament, are accused of setting up a criminal organization that engaged in a campaign of beatings and stabbings against migrants and left-wing opponents in Greece.
The second day of the trial, like the opening day last month, dealt with procedural issues and a request by local authorities to have the venue changed due to disruption to nearby schools by road closures for security reasons.
Hundreds of anti-Golden Dawn protesters turned up outside the police cordon near Korydallos prison. One man was slightly injured and taken to hospital after a group of protesters beat him after apparently mistaking him for a party supporter, police said.
The formerly fringe Nazi-inspired Golden Dawn is now the third-largest party in Greece, having enjoyed a massive surge in popularity during the harsh austerity of the past five years.
With living standards dropping and unemployment skyrocketing, many Greeks abandoned the mainstream parties they held responsible for the financial crisis and turned to formerly small parties on the extreme right and left.
Michaloliakos, who is under house arrest after serving the maximum allowable 18 months in pre-trial detention, was not present.
The trial is to resume on May 12.
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