Patra mayor’s trial over Golden Dawn candidate’s suit starts

A court in Patra on Thursday started hearing a lawsuit filed by a candidate for the ultranationalist Golden Dawn party in 2015 against the western port city’s mayor.

Mayor Costas Peletidis responded on Thursday morning to dereliction of duty charges, filed after the city council unanimously denied a request by Golden Dawn parliamentary candidate Michalis Arvanitis to use a municipal venue for staging his campaign.

Responding to the charges after his trial was postponed earlier this month, Peletidis said that the Patra municipal authority would “continue its fight to stop Golden Dawn from passing on its ideology, propaganda and racist poison.”

“It’s a political issue regarding the protection of this city against racist messages,” he said, adding that “Patra will never become a place where those who want to divide us are active.”

Meanwhile, dozens of people had gathered outside the Patra court on Thursday to express their support for the mayor.