Former neo-Nazi Golden Dawn lawmakers Ilias Panagiotaros and Konstantinos Barbarousis were sentenced on Monday for firing a weapon without just cause at the funeral of a former junta general Nikos Dertilis, who was a member of the 1967-1974 military dictatorship.

Dertilis died, aged 92, following an acute ischaemic cerebral episode in an Athens hospital. The ex-colonel had spent the last 37 years in prison following a life sentence for the murder of 20-year-old student Michalis Myroyiannis during the Athens Polytechnic uprising.

Police officers told the court that they heard shootings at the funeral that took place in January 2013. They saw a group of around 20 people, including the two accused. The ballistic tests on the 15 bullet casings collected at the scene showed that the shots had been fired from the suspects’ weapons.

READ MORE: 158 conservative seats in 300-member Greek Parliament, as voters turn backs on Golden Dawn

Panagiotaros and Barbousis’ lawyers called for the acquittal of the two men, who were not present in the court room, because they argued that the two former party officials did not know that their action had been illegal. It was stated that “shooting in the air is a custom in some regions of the country.”

The two former MPs also face separate charges in another trial concerning the activities of Golden Dawn.