Right-wing politics

The disciplinary board at maximum-security Domokos Prison, in central Greece, where former Golden Dawn official Ilias Kasidiaris is serving his sentence for running a criminal organization as a leading member of the neo-Nazi outfit, acquitted him or irregular telephone communications during a meeting on May 5. 

In working-class neighborhoods on the outskirts of Athens, Spiros Richard Hagabimana is going door-to-door in an election campaign that could see him become Greece's first black lawmaker.

The Supreme Court's decision to ban jailed former Golden Dawn deputy leader Ilias Kasidiaris' party from participating in the upcoming national elections is shaping a new political landscape.

Ilias Kasidiaris, a former Golden Dawn party MP, who was handed a prison sentence of 13 years, speaking during the Golden Dawn trial in Athens, October 21, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/PANTELIS SAITAS

The Supreme Court has ruled that the National Party, founded by the convicted criminal and former Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris, may not contest the May 21 election.

A total of 36 parties and coalitions, as well as a single individual, will contest the May 21 election out of the 50 that had filed applications.

A section of the Supreme Court's Civil Division, made up of ten justices, decided that 14 of the 50 formations did not meet the criteria to take part in the election, for various reasons.

Τhe Supreme Court will on Tuesday decide the fate of the National Party founded by the convicted criminal and former Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris.

As the May 21 elections draw nearer, several parties on the right of the ruling New Democracy are competing for the support of extremist voters. Amid the legal battle to prevent him from running with his newly formed National Party, there has been much speculation about the plans of Ilias Kasidiaris, the convicted leader of the now-defunct neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party.

Three former leading figures in the now-defunct neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party were cleared of inciting racist violence in a case relating to derogatory comments allegedly made against Muslim lawmakers in Parliament in March 2018.

Members of the youth wing of the far-right Greek group Golden Dawn, with masks on their faces, on Wednesday night broke into an exhibition of the fine artist Sergej Andreevski from North Macedonia, held in the gallery of the Thessaloniki municipality of Kalamaria. They verbally attacked the artist and bragged later on the internet that they had shut down the exhibition.