Alleged killer in Fyssas murder trial testifies in court
Judges in the long-running trial of Golden Dawn (GD) on Thursday are finally hearing from Giorgos Roupakias, the man charged with the murder of rapper Pavlos Fyssas in September 2013.
Roupakias, a self-professed member of Golden Dawn, was released from custody under strict conditions on March 2016 as had completed the maximum of 18 months in pretrial detention.
The court room was filled on Thursday ahead of his testimony while anti-fascist groups held a protest rally outside the building of the appeals court in Athens.
Testifying in the trial on Wednesday, Giorgos Patelis, the former head of the neo-Nazi party’s Nikaia chapter in southwest Athens, denied any involvement in the killing.
Patelis is accused of informing ex Golden Dawn lawmaker Yiannis Lagos about the whereabouts of Fyssas and organizing the group that attacked the 34-year-old musician ahead of his fatal stabbing by Roupakias.
Plagued by financial woes and inner-party strife, Golden Dawn suffered a staggering defeat in Greece’s national election on July 7, falling short of the 3 percent threshold needed to enter the House and losing its seven-year-long parliamentary representation.
More than four years after the trial against GD started in April 2015, the court proceedings entered a new phase in June, with the accused finally taking the stand.
The trial is expected to continue until the end of July and will then adjourn until September.
