FOTOGRAFIA: The Hands of Justice

Running amok for 15 months with a rampage of violence against immigrants, leftists, communists, gays, atheists and other of its declared enemies, Greece's neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, which threatened to walk out of the Parliament and create new elections, was brought to heel with a spate of arrests. Its leader, Nikolaos ?Fuhrer? Michaloliakos, his number two man ? an apt designation ? Christos Pappas, and party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris, who wants to be Mayor of Athens, found themselves in handcuffs doing the perp walk from police headquarters to the prosecutor's office, yelling insults all the way. The three are Members of Parliament, among six of the party's lawmakers in a group of 18 who were taken into custody on charges of operating a criminal gang. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who had been soft in them in an apparent attempt to woo away some of its voters as the Nazis were rising in power, finally got tough after one of its members was charged with stabbing to death a 34-year-old anti-fascist, but critics said he was more worried about new elections and cutting off their power base. Whatever the reason, Greeks who don't like the party were treated to the sight of many of its members wearing the bracelets behind their backs while being taken to court. Now we'll see if there's justice too or just a sideshow.

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