New evidence emerges against Golden Dawn
Three Golden Dawn MPs who had been due to defend themselves on Saturday on charges of belonging to a criminal organization were given additional time – until January 11 – after a wealth of new evidence was unearthed regarding the neofascist party’s activities, Kathimerini has learned.
The investigating magistrates Ioanna Klappa and Maria Dimitropoulou summoned Stathis Boukouras, Giorgos Germenis and Panayiotis Iliopoulos on Friday and called for a postponement of their depositions in view of the new material which, judicial sources said, is extensive. The bulk of the new evidence is said to have been gleaned from an examination of the personal computers and cell phones of several GD lawmakers and officials who have been questioned as part of a broader criminal investigation into the party. The most valuable insights were gained from documents and photographs which had been erased but which police managed to recover, sources said.
The lawyers of the three MPs, and of several other GD lawmakers and cadres implicated in an ongoing probe, are to be provided with copies of the new case files next week.
Among the findings expected to prove most useful to the investigating magistrates are a wealth of text messages exchanged between GD lawmakers and members as well as photographs that allegedly show MPs at paramilitary-style events.
On Thursday, anti-terrorism officers raided the homes of Boukouras, Germenis and Iliopoulos, seizing two guns from Boukouras’s home and ammunition from that of Germenis.