Golden Dawn sentences due Wednesday
An Athens court is on Wednesday expected to announce sentences for the leadership and members of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, winding up a historic trial of major political significance, after a prosecutor called for stiff terms for prominent former MPs.
The court is at noon to resume a hearing that began Tuesday with a prosecutor’s proposal for 13-year prison sentences for the party’s leadership and a life sentence for GD member Giorgos Roupakias for the murder of leftist rapper Pavlos Fyssas in 2013.
The prosecutor also proposed prison terms of between five and seven years for other former MPs. The terms proposed for Roupakias’ accomplices in the Fyssas killing are eight years, with between seven and 10 years for those found guilty of attacks on three Egyptian fishermen in 2012.
Once the decision on the sentences has been announced, the court is to decide which of the terms will be suspended. This will determine who will go directly to prison and who will remain free pending the outcome of their appeals.
Despite having originally proposed that the party’s leadership not be convicted for running a criminal organization, the prosecutor, Adamantia Economou, on Tuesday called for tough terms, close to the maximum of 15 years.
For the four former MPs granted leniency, the prosecutor proposed five-year prison terms. If her proposal is adopted, they will not face any prison time, in accordance with the Greek penal code.
Meanwhile the lawyers of the former MPs and party members facing prison time are expected to put up a fight to get their clients’ sentences suspended. As a result, it will unlikely be clear before Wednesday who faces imminent imprisonment.
