Historian testifies about 2008 Golden Dawn attack

A historian who was viciously attacked by a gang of Golden Dawn members in the summer of 2008 testified on Friday at the ongoing trial on the criminal activities of the far-right party, telling judges that there were a lot of similarities between that assault and others of which the party stands accused.

Vienna University Professor Dimitris Kousouris was with two students when he came under attack on June 2008 by a group of between eight and 10 men led by Ioannis Androutsopoulos, a member of Golden Dawn’s political council who has since been convicted of attempted murder over the incident.

Kousouris told judges that there are “common characteristics” between the attack on him for publicly opposing Golden Dawn and those on other perceived enemies, including rapper Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed to death by a GD member in September 2013.

“It is clear – and I survived only thanks to a miracle – that we are talking about a method of operation that has evolved and become more effective,” he said.

Kousouris said he was attacked fast and viciously by one of the far-right party’s so-called “storm detachments,” echoing the testimony of other alleged victims, including a group of Egyptian fishermen and activists with Communist Party-affiliated union PAME.

“I was attacked with bats. Fyssas was stabbed,” the academic said.