Hundreds gather at funeral of murdered musician
Hundreds of mourners gathered in a cemetery west of Athens for the funeral of a 34-year-old musician stabbed to death in a killing blamed on a member of the extreme right-wing Golden Dawn party.
Pavlos Fyssas, a hip-hop singer with the stage name Killah P described as an anti-fascist activist, died early on Wednesday from two stab wounds to the chest after leaving a cafe in the western area of Keratsini.
Police arrested a suspect at the scene, who they say admitted to the killing and identified himself as a member of Golden Dawn.
Fyssas’s family on Thursday requested that no members of the media attend the funeral, while also asking mourners to make donations to the Smile of the Child charity organization instead of depositing funeral wreaths at the grave site.
Mourners chanted anti-fascist slogans and sang verses from the hip-hop artist’s songs as they joined the funeral procession, while flowers and candles were deposited at the site of Fyssas’s murder in Keratsini.
The attack has sparked outrage in Greece and abroad, drawing widespread condemnation from across the political spectrum and increasing calls for a crackdown on the extremist party. Golden Dawn supporters are notorious for their thuggish behavior and for carrying out violent attacks against immigrants, often causing severe injuries.
“This government is determined not to allow the heirs of the Nazis to poison our social life, to commit crimes, to terrorize and to undermine the foundations of the country that gave birth to democracy,” said Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in a brief televised address to the nation on Thursday.
Golden Dawn insists it had nothing to do with the killing and has condemned the attack.
Hundreds of people around Greece have protested the killing, with anti-fascist rallies on Wednesday night turning violent and leading to 34 arrests. More protests have been organized for Thursday evening. [AP/Kathimerini]
