Police bans rallies ahead of Golden Dawn member shootings
Greek Police on Thursday banned all public rallies and protest marches in Attica on November 1, which marks the 10-year anniversary of the fatal shooting of two members of the now-defunct, Nazi-inspired Golden Dawn party, citing a “risk to public safety” and the possibility of violence.
Far-right groups Pro Patria and Iachi and Golden Dawn’s youth wing had planned a rally at the party’s former office in Athens’ Neo Iraklio suburb, with the participation of far-right and neo-Nazi organizations from Europe.
On the same day, anti-fascist groups were planning their own gatherings to protest the presence of far-right groups.
“The prohibition is imposed as there is a serious risk to public safety, due to the possible commission of serious crimes, especially against life, bodily integrity and property, from holding meetings and counter-meetings by groups of opposing positions,” police said in a press release.
“In addition, there is a serious threat of disruption of socio-economic life, both in the areas where gatherings have been announced, and in the rest of the Attica Prefecture, where similar gatherings are likely to take place, as well as the simultaneous presence in a climate of polarization of concentrated groups,” it added.
The ban will be in place from 6 a.m. on November 1, to 6 a.m. on November 2.
Golden Dawn members Giorgos Fountoulis and Manos Kapelonis, aged 22 and 27, were shot at close range from a motorcycle carrying two men, while a third man, Alexandros Gerontas, was seriously injured.
The attack came almost two months after a leftwing hip-hop artist, Pavlos Fyssas, was fatally stabbed by Giorgios Roupakias, a self-confessed member of Golden Dawn in a working class area of Athens. Roupakias was sentences to life for the murder.
On October 2020, a court ruled that Golden Dawn was operating as a criminal organization, delivering a landmark guilty verdict in a marathon five-year trial. The court ruled seven of the party’s former lawmakers, including party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, were guilty of leading a criminal organization, while the others were guilty of participating in a criminal organization. An appeal trial is underway.
