Supreme Court

A legal dispute involving the government's attempt to prevent a far-right political party from running in the general election scheduled for next month led to the resignation of a vice president of Greece's Supreme Court on Monday. 

A vice president at Greece's Supreme Court resigned Monday in a legal dispute over an attempt by the government to ban a far-right political party from participating in a general election next month.

Christos Tzanerikos, the Vice President of the Supreme Court, has stepped down from his position after criticizing a government amendment that sought to strengthen a ban on the Greek National Party (Ellines) from participating in the upcoming May 21 general election.

Ilias Kasidiaris, the jailed former MP and spokesperson for the Greek National Party (Ellines), is reportedly considering to install former prosecutor Anastasios (Tasos) Kanellopoulos as formal leader of his far-right party in an attempt to evade a potential election ban. 

Supreme Court prosecutor Isidoros Dogiakos requested on Tuesday the judicial decision which allowed a serial child abuser to be released from jail after serving just 12.5 years of a decades-long sentence.

A deputy prosecutor of the Supreme Court requested on Tuesday police protection for a 12-year-old Athens girl who exposed one of the country's biggest cases of child sex trafficking, after the victim's legal team said she was attacked by a man with a knife.

Ilias Kasidiaris in Athens, October 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/KOSTAS TSIRONIS

The Ellines party was founded in 2020 by a former member of the far-right Golden Dawn, Ilias Kasidiaris, who is currently serving a sentence for being part of a criminal organisation.

The police used water cannons. The organizers claim that 230,000 people came out in Tel Aviv, while "The Times of Israel" refers to the report of "Channel 12" which claims that 165,000 people are on the streets.

Criminal Ties

Montage by BIRN

In 2015, North Macedonia took what was then both a revolutionary and controversial step in the region by legalizing the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal purposes. Since 2017, the industry truly took off in the country, encouraged by a government which saw it as an economic growth opportunity.

Supreme Court justices will be required to disclose more of their activities, including some free trips, air travel and other types of gifts, according to rules adopted earlier this month.

Under the new rules, justices and other federal judges must report travel by private jet, as well as stays at commercial properties, such as hotels, resorts or hunting lodges.