The head of Greece’s far-right Golden
Dawn party, Nikos Mihaloliakos, arrived in court to answer charges of
organising a criminal group.
He was one of six MPs arrested at the weekend amid outrage over the recent
murder of an anti-racist musician.
Three of the detained MPs have been freed pending trial while a fourth was
remanded in custody.
All four denied the charges against them during an earlier, lengthy court
hearing in Athens.
The fact that three were freed pending trial will raise questions over how
watertight the government’s case against them actually is, the BBC’s Mark Lowen
reports from the Greek capital.
In all, 22 people were detained following the 18 September murder of Pavlos
Fyssas.
A man held for the stabbing told police he was a Golden Dawn supporter,
though the party strongly denies any link.
Mr Mihaloliakos faces charges including murder, assault and
money-laundering.
Greek media reports suggested Mr Mihaloliakos was set to accuse the
prosecution of mounting a politically motivated case, while denying any Nazi
sympathies.
He was expected to deplore the killing of Pavlos Fyssas, and violence as a
whole, the reports suggested.
According to Greek law, he is required to set out a preliminary defence
argument during his appearance before an investigative judge.
The judge is due to decide – on the basis of the charges and the defence
statement – whether to grant bail or remand Mr Mihaloliakos in custody pending
his full trial, which the authorities are keen to conclude swiftly.
Prosecutors found there was insufficient evidence to keep three of the MPs in
detention.
MP and party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris was freed on Wednesday on bail of
50,000 euros (£42,000; $68,000) and banned from leaving the country.
On leaving the court, Kasidiaris was filmed punching a video camera as he and
his co-defendants barged journalists aside.
Fellow MPs Ilias Panagiotaros and Nikos Michos were freed under travel bans
but with no bail set. They too left court in a belligerent mood, insulting
reporters as “losers” and “little slaves”.
A fourth MP, Yannis Lagos, was remanded in custody.
The plea session lasted 18 hours, Reuters news agency reports.
Mr Mihaloliakos’s deputy, Christos Pappas, is set to appear in court in the
coming days.
Any MPs finally convicted would lose their seats in parliament, prompting
by-elections and – the government hopes – leading to the destruction of Greece’s
neo-Nazi party, our correspondent says.
During Tuesday’s court appearances, there was a heavy
presence of riot police – a reminder that despite falling popularity in the
opinion polls, the party still commands significant support, our correspondent
says.
Supporters outside court chanted slogans, including: “You are heroes!”
Details from witness testimony have been emerging about the way in which the
party operated
Source: BBC