Police in Greece have arrested the leader of far right parliamentary party Golden Dawn (GD) and another three of its parliamentarians. The crackdown follows the murder of an anti-fascist activist on September 18.
According to media reports, there are arrest warrants for another two of GD's 18 parliamentarians. Overall the prosecutors in Greece have issued 34 warrants for the arrest of GD members.
The crackdown on GD came after public opinion in Greece became outraged when a elf-confessed GD supporter killed Pavlos Fyssas, an anti-nazi activist and rapper, also known as KillahP.
Phone records handed over to the prosecuting authorities appears to show a connection between his murdered and the local GD leadership. Members of the organisation have told the press that attacks launched by the GD - in many cases against immigrants- were authorised from the top, with phone calls up and down the chain of command used to pass on the information.
In reaction to the killing, the Greek government forwarded to the prosecutors a file of over 30 cases in which Golden Dawn was implicated. It was all revealed that the authorities were tapping GD phones well ahead of the murder.
GD rose from relative obscurity to enter parliament in the May 2012 general election as Greeks, disaffected after three year of austerity, voted for them in what was initially thought of as a protest vote. Since then GD has solidified its support and until two week ago was steadily polling as the third biggest party in Greece.
Its leader, Nikos Mihaloliakos, has threatened that its MPs will resign, instigating elections in 15 constituencies that together could bring 70 percent of the Greek electorate to the polls.
Greece has received a €240 billion euro bailout by the EU and the IMF in return for forcing through painful structural reforms, budget cuts and tax hikes that have resulted in an unemployment rate of nearly 30 percent and six consecutive years of recession.
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