NEWS

Golden Dawn member suggests party’s MPs involved in gun smuggling

A convicted member of Golden Dawn has told magistrates that he believes some of the Neo-Nazi party’s MPs were involved in gun smuggling.

The 46-year-old, who is already in custody on separate charges, was a secretary at one of Golden Dawn’s offices in southern Athens.

Kathimerini understands that during questioning on Friday, he said the party used vans which had forged registration documents to move firearms. He said Golden Dawn lawmaker Ilias Panagiotaros was in charge of such a vehicle.

The suspect said that he heard mostly handguns and M16 rifles were being moved around. On July 9, police found a van in Piraeus which had seven Kalashnikov assault rifles, a handgun, bullets and grenades inside. At the time, officers did not link the discovery to Golden Dawn but are now re-examining their findings.

When questioned about whether Golden Dawn had any other sources of funding than the state subsidies it receives, the 46-year-old said he had heard the names of two Greek shipowners mentioned. He did not give further details.

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