Three Golden Dawn MPs to testify next week
Three magistrates who are handling a criminal investigation into the neofascist Golden Dawn are expected to call three of the party’s lawmakers for testimony next week, Kathimerini understands.
Giorgos Germenis (photo), Panayiotis Iliopoulos and Stathis Boukouras, who had their parliamentary immunity lifted last month, are to defend themselves on charges of belonging to a criminal organization, the same charges that have been brought against party leader Nikos Michaloliakos and another five deputies.
The judges are also planning to bring charges against three party members in connection with a violent assault on members of the Communist Party in Perama, southwest of Athens, in September, Kathimerini has learned. Charges are also to be leveled against another GD deputy based in a major provincial city who has been implicated in an extortion racket, sources said.
Judicial officials are awaiting a police report on weapons that were found in the homes of members and officials of Golden Dawn before issuing another round of charges.
In a related development, the party threatened legal action against the Public Order Ministry unless it restores police protection which was revoked from the party’s MPs in September following the killing of an antifascist rapper by a Golden Dawn supporter. Ministry sources responded that officers have been taken away from VIP duty to guard GD deputies.
