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Supreme Court Orders Arrest of MPs Despite Immunity -Greece’s Measures Against Extremists

 Greece’s Supreme Court of Civil and Penal Law (‘Αρειος Πάγος) decided to take radical measures against members of the Parliament caught in flagranti (to catch red-handed, in action) in committing felonies: Arrest! The circular sent to prosecutors and police departments does not namely refer to MPs of extreme-right Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) however the message is clear:

“Recently there has been observed the phenomenon of increasing attacks, use of violence and checks on foreign immigrants concerning the lawfulness of entrance, residence and their commecrial activities by organized groups of citizens. Many times members of the Parliament participate in these actions.” (Full text here via To Vima)

Supreme Court prosecutor Ioannis Tentes noted that if parliamentarians commit misdemeanour (like overthrowing stands etc), police should prevent them from doing so “by ordinary means”. When felonies are committed, judicial and police authorities are informed that the MPs should be arrested. (zougla, tovima)

Members of the Parliament enjoy immunity and a vote is needed for the immunity to be lifted.

The Supreme Court circular comes after the recent and multiple incidents where members of Chrysi Avgi under the leadership of elected MPs of the party attacked vendors in open markets,  made check controls without being authorized to do so and even announced further similar actions.

Beginning of the month, Greece’s public opinion and the political world were shocked to see incidents full of violence and hate to pass before their eyes via their television screens, as GD always makes sure that these attacks are being filmed and broadcast through the media.

Scenes that had horrifying similarity to actions staged by “raid squads” against Jews in Nazi-Germany. 

The Greek state was late in preventing or practically hindering such raids except for some verbal condemnation by the Minister of  Citizen Protection and Justice.   

In the following days, MPs of GD openly justified their actions and even

“sued Minister of Citizen Protection Nikos Dendias and chief of the Greek Police, Lt Gen Nikos Papagiannopoulos, for slander, “perversion of institutions”, and “suppressing legal public actions” with the Supreme Court prosecutor. Among the charges it makes against the minister is that he is harbouring criminals – namely, the unlicensed street vendors targeted by the party.” (Athens News)

Dendias announced radical measures against the GD, vowing to “crush” them. 

Dendias:  “I have already said it and I will say it again: We will not have storm troopers in this country.”

It was then a matter of time, that Justice and Citizen Protection join forces to set a cutback to GD’s challenging actions that in fact showed the shortages in implementation of laws, the lack of state presence and political will. Or even state weakness to deal with unexpected issues.

And yet, with a constant daily presence in the news (whether with distribution of food to Greek-only poor, blood donations for Greeks-only, raids and attacks against immigrants, or sharp criticism against the state as such or the political system) Golden Dawn seem to gain support among some parts of the Greek society.

In the most recent public opinion survey, Chrysi Avgi gains in support when compared to the other political parties, whether those participating in the government or those of the opposition.

“Which party can perform the best opposition? SYRIZA 32%, Independent Greeks 14% Chrysi Avgi 13%, KKE 10%.

Political party popularity: Democratic Left 48%, SYRIZA 42%, IndepGreeks 40%, Nea Dimocratia 38%, PASOK 23%, Chrysi Avgi 22%, KKE 19%. In comparison to May 2012, Chrysi Avgi recorded an increase of 10 units.” (skai.gr)

The survey was conducted by Public Issue between 6-11 September 2012 for SKAI TV and newspaper Kathimerini.

 

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20 comments

  1. The EU says GD is not fashionable so they must be punished? Golden Dawn is the best thing to happen to Greece in decades. Every greek relative that I speak with is PRO GD. All my greek friends are PRO GD.
    Sure. It’s so easy today to call a person or a group, “racist”.
    The word has lost its meaning. Here in the states the black and hispanic filth have ruined our country.
    If Greece eliminates the GD, there will never be hope and the monkeys will win.
    Btw, nothing turns my stomach more than anti GD greek citizens.

    • As for the Supreme Court and the Minister, Kudos. What we now need is a Hate Speech law so that the tools to keep GD in check are matched with tools to shut them up and stop brainless idiocy like the above comment. Whoever you are, may your crutch get infected with the fleas of 10,000 camels (at least you’ll then have something there), and may your arms be too short to scratch…

    • The word racism lost its meaning?

      The word has lost its meaning. Here in the states the black and hispanic filth have ruined our country.

      With this you proof the contrary. You should be banned, mr. or mrs. Spencer. Your post is sickening.

      • should I? as occationaly there’re requests here to approve comments that should be disapproved I thought to make the ‘test-drive’.
        probably he’s is a foreigner in foreign country facing racism feeling the need to pass racism to those he feels are below him. 1+1+1=2

        • It should simply not even occur to people to speak like this, but as long as 1 does, it is quite necessary to smack the majority of people in the face with this kind of nonsense, because they think its harmless and really non-existing. 1 rotten apple will spoil the cart if not removed…

        • There is no justification to call hispanics and blacks “filth” and call foreigners, legal or illegal “monkeys”.
          This post is so blatantly racist that it would have been wise, IMHO, to not allow it. Or at least to put a comment direct below it.
          If he were a Greek you might have been right to allow the comment, as it would show the sentiments in a part of this country. But this person is an American who is indeed projecting all kinds of filth here… Nothing to be gained or learned by having him/her have his/her way.

          • But this is the kind of people who will take over if you don’t stand up and stop it… Shocking, but unfortunately the reality of things. You are indeed right, it cannot be allowed. Which has been more than proven by allowing this little glimpse and the follow up below. It’s obviously not just people of different race, culture or religion. Greeks who don’t agree get the same treatment!
            This guy is doing everybody a big favour by showing what to expect if it isn’t stopped. It cannot be made any clearer than this.

          • the approved comments are only a part of the alleged “supremacy” – definetely not the intellectual one. The rest I did not approve are absolute No-No.

          • Thank you. I for one can only take so much supremacy for 1 evening. And also thank you for allowing this brief glimpse into what kind of an attitude Greeks and foreigners alike can expect from these guys for possibly daring to have a different view.
            Very sad, but very enlightening

    • It’s so easy today to call a person or a group, “racist”. The word has lost its meaning.

      Agreed. Paraphrasing Sir Winston Churchill: The racists of the future will be called anti-racists.

  2. You VLAXH call yourselves greeks? When did you become so politicaly correct? Are you taking lessons from the US, UK and France?

  3. Hey moderator. You should be and stay partial. The truth is so easy to censor. You should be waking these idiots up from their sleep. ND and PASOK have brainwashed the lot of you…

  4. kakoxrono naxete palio vlaxh

  5. Assholes like you make me want to relocate back to Greece and lead the Golden Dawn.

    • What kind of a Greek name is Spencer? I’m sure that eventually Golden Dawn will have you in their sites “Foreigner”. They start with immigrants and will end up with anyone who disagrees with them. Get ready Spencer as maybe you will be the filth one day. Wake up and realize that racism is a sickness and you have caught the bug.

  6. Make no mistake, the parliamentary immunity of the MPs who participated in the publicity seeking stunts will eventually be lifted. It might take a while, but Golden Dawn’s bullies and vigilantes will ultimately have their day in court. The junta days of deciding, ordering and acting with impunity have long passed.

  7. Stay where you are Kspencer! We have enough a$$holes here in Greece as it is!

  8. We have those in Portugal, too. It is tragic and ironic. My grandfather, supposedly a member of a glorious ancient celtic race, by those stupid racists nationalists, was considered inferior by people in other countries where he emigrated. The are no limits for cruelty and stupidity. I’m curious about one thing: what the Ortodox Church of Greece say about all this?

  9. The German Interior Ministry has today launched a “Neo-Nazi” database, sharing knowledge of known neo-nazi’s between some 30 different police departments. This came about as a direct result of the so-called “Kebab” murders where different police forces were investigating the same group of neo-nazi without sharing info. As a direct result of this “we’ll get then first” attitude of the police, 9 immigrants and 1 policeman lost their lives.
    The database, so far, contains details on 22,400 known neo-nazis, 9,800 of whom are labeled dangerous and violent.
    Good to see the authorities are finally beginning to take this threat to society seriously.