For decades Greece's Golden Dawn has been linked to sometimes fatal violence, now key members of the group are on trial in a case that could seal its fate as a party
In recent weeks, a handful of high-ranking Golden Dawn members have testified in the ongoing trial of the party, shedding light on the neo-Nazi party’s internal operations and violent attacks on political opponents and migrants.
Five years later, Michaloliakos registered the political association Popular National Movement – Golden Dawn, shortly after breaking away from the ultra-nationalist National Political Union. But Golden Dawn found little success in the early years following its recognition as a political party. During the 1994 European Parliament elections, the party garnered less than a percent of the vote nationwide.
In December 1992, party members are believed to have executed attacks on leftists and other political opponents after massive demonstrations over the country’s longstanding name dispute with its northern neighbour, Macedonia. Although still largely on the outskirts of Greek politics, the party gradually constructed a base of hardline supporters.
As Golden Dawn and other far-right groups harnessed anti-immigrant sentiment, the number of attacks surged. Yet Golden Dawn repeated its success, gaining 6.92 percent of the vote and 18 seats in the Hellenic Parliament. In January 2013, two men stabbed to death Shahzad Luqman, a 27-year-old Pakistani migrant worker, in the capital. When police subsequently raided their homes, they found Golden Dawn pamphlets and weapons. (Both men are currently named as defendants in the ongoing trial of Golden Dawn.
Throughout the trial, a harrowing theme has been the complicity of many locals and Greek authorities during the bloodiest periods of far-right violence.
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