Hopefully he can… unify the far-left and far-right against Israel?
Is that plausible in Greece?
The unrepentant founder of Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, who insisted followers addressed him as the Fuhrer, has been released from prison four years into a sentence of 13 and a half years, having been convicted of operating a criminal organisation that posed as a political party.
Nikos Michaloliakos, a Holocaust denier and admirer of Adolf Hitler, was allowed to return to his home in Athens this week although his “conditional discharge” was only made public on Thursday.
The news sparked fury among members of the country’s anti-fascist movement. “It’s a scandalous decision,” said Petros Constantinou, the chief coordinator of the front, known as Keerfa. “It did not need to happen and will give the green light to fascists to regroup and continue attacks ahead of the European elections.”
He said operatives of the far-right, ultra-nationalist party still ran branches in Thessaloniki despite it being officially disbanded.
The party was banned because that’s what happens in a democracy
Michaloliakos, an anti-vaxxer who spent a large part of his imprisonment in a rehabilitation clinic after becoming seriously ill during the coronavirus pandemic, was sentenced at the end of a landmark trial to 13-and-a-half years in jail for crimes ranging from violent attacks on immigrants, to weapons offences and the murder of an anti-fascist musician.
Greek media reported his release application had been vigorously opposed by a state prosecutor. The magistrate had argued that despite meeting the criterion of serving three fifths of his jail term, once pre-trial detention was taken into account, the 67-year-old showed no remorse for his actions and should not be set free.
The discharge, agreed by a judicial council in the central town of Lamia, stipulated that Michaloliakos was banned from fraternising with other far-right activists and would have to present himself at a local police station once a month. He was also forbidden from leaving the greater Athens region of Attica.
Yeah, so… he’s not allowed to do anything.
He probably will do something, and go back to prison.
Greece is cracking down on a bunch of other right-wingers as well:
The move came days after Greece’s supreme court banned another extremist party, the Spartans, from contesting next month’s European elections, arguing the organisation, which has 11 MPs, “aims at the weakening and demise of the democratic political system, particularly through the use of violence or incitement to violence”.
Several of its deputies face charges of electoral fraud, with the fate of the Spartans’ parliamentary group expected to be decided soon by a special court.
They just invent bizarre charges and ban right-wing groups. This has been going on for a decade, at the behest of the Germans.
There is no way to have a country with free elections and also be a part of the EU. German women will come in and start telling you what to do.
Greece just keeps banning parties to defend democracy