Golden Dawn Chief Charged As Gang Leader

ATHENS - The leader of the far-right Golden Dawn party, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, has been formally charged with belonging to a criminal organization. Four more Golden Dawn MPs and 15 other party members who face the same charges spent the night in jail on Sept. 28. Police said they found weapons, ammunition and thousands of euros in cash at Michaloliakos's home. The 20 were arrested amid anger over the murder on Sept. 18 of anti-racist musician, Pavlos Fyssas. A man held for the stabbing told police he was a Golden Dawn supporter, though the party strongly denies any link. The MPs arrested were party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris, Ilias Panayiotaros, Nikos Michos and Ioannis Lagos. It is the first time since 1974 that a party leader and MPs have been arrested. Not since the end of Greece's military dictatorship in 1974 has there been a mass arrest of MPs. It is an extraordinary clampdown by a government long accused of taking a soft touch towards Golden Dawn.

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