Police are seeking the number two in Golden Dawn’s leadership, Christos Pappas, who remained at large late last night, as convicted former MPs and members of the neo-Nazi party were transferred to prison.
Pappas had checked in with his local police station in the northern Athens suburb of Papagou on October 1, as he was obliged to do, but has not been seen since then.
Following the October 7 verdict deeming GD a criminal organization, police had put the party’s leadership under surveillance. But Pappas could not be traced.
READ MORE: Golden Dawn member on the run from police after being sentenced to 13 years in prison
On Thursday, after the court ruled that the party’s leaders will have to see out their terms in prison, police raided Pappas’ home and those of relatives in western Attica and in Ioannina in northwestern Greece.
Leftist SYRIZA slammed the Citizens’ Protection Ministry, noting that “it should have known where the leaders of Golden Dawn were.”
Thursday’s court decision capped a marathon five-year politically charged trial involving 68 defendants and dozens of lawyers. It encompassed four cases: the 2013 fatal stabbing of left-wing Greek rap singer Pavlos Fyssas, physical attacks on Egyptian fishermen and left-wing activists, and whether Golden Dawn was operating as a criminal organization.
A total of 57 party members and associates were convicted on Oct. 7, mostly for involvement in violent attacks and participating in a criminal organization. Of those, the panel of three judges rejected appeals for suspended sentences for 39.
Sourced By: Ekatherimini
