Galery

1

In an interview for Ethnos, a former member of Golden Dawn revealed the hierarchy, introductory exams and contributions according to the amount of which members of the party progress through the ranks, as well as the provision of "protection" and their uniforms.

When did you become a member of Golden Dawn?

I started from the first meeting of the local organisation in Nicaea, after an invitation on Facebook. I was seeking help, since Pakistanis would have attacked offices in Nicaea. I remember that it was a Thursday, and I went to the office and asked how I could subscribe. I believed in the idea of a Greece without illegal immigrants, but not in harassment and beatings. These are two different things. I went and signed up. They issued me a membership card.

How do you become a member?

You pay 20 euro, show a Greek ID card and sign up. Your membership card states which organisation you are a member of and your membership number.

www.ethnos.gr

Do you still have your card?

Yes, I do. I keep it at home. Once I signed up, they put me in the Nucleus. Members of the Nucleus run errands for whatever happens, without asking about anything. The Nucleus consisted of 20 people at the beginning, but at a certain point it expanded a lot. Since this was the trend at the time, everybody signed up in the Nucleus. The head of the organisation, George Patelis, decided to create a closed and an open Nucleus. The closed one would include only his people, those with muscles, the ones who take pills and become muscular.

Which people belong to the open Nucleus?

Most were in the open Nucleus. Afterwards, they separated men from women and only accepted men. When someone became a member, firstly, he had to participate in 5-6 actions and then he was assessed and they determined whether you could become a member of the open Nucleus. Afterwards, you continue and go deeper and if they reckon that you're doing things right, you enter the closed Nucleus. It was supposed that you learn secret things there. However, they never remained a secret, since someone always came out and said them.

What were those secrets?

What they will do - go to make an attack on a place where 10 Pakistanis live, write slogans on walls, or attack immigrants.

Did they attack mainly immigrants?

They attacked Pakistanis just to show off. Since I cannot accept that they attacked Pakistanis and then sold them protection. All Pakistanis in Nicaea laugh when they hear about Golden Dawn. The local organisation protects Pakistanis. It takes clothes that people donate to the poor and gives them to Pakistanis, who sell them on the market and give Golden Dawn a share of the revenues. Other people can also attest to that. They collected money for someone in need but put it in their own pockets. They said that they collected 40 euro, but in the closed Nucleus I understood that they collected 300 euro, and put it in their own pockets. They pay the cost of their homes and they make their lives easier in this way. Although George Petelis and his wife are unemployed and their only income comes from the pension of his mother, they live in a large comfortable house in Nicaea. He pays for electricity, water, telephone, and general expenses, and he lives well and is proud that he gives his child 15 euro every day. When you are unemployed, where do you get this money from?

Did Ioannis Lagos know about the things you're talking about?

He supported all this. He was aware of everything. Whatever we said, whatever happened, Lagos knew. Friends who publicly spoke about this were beaten. They went with evidence, beat them and excluded them afterwards. They said that they were liars and undisciplined. If you see something bad and talk about it – this is the end for you, you're out. Thus, he created the clique of gangsters and assault groups, as he wanted to, which resulted in a murder.

Who entered the assault groups?

Assault groups were the core. When I left, they included 30 people, but later others entered them.

www.tvxs.gr

Were these 30 people involved in the murder of Pavlos Fyssas?

Yes, they were.

How do these assault groups act?

The group wears black and white uniforms. Only the local organisation in Nicaea can wear them and nobody else. They do what George Patelis tells them. When they have to go and do something, he tells them to be prepared, dressed in black, and not to wear shirts of Golden Dawn, since they may damage the party, as well as to wear helmets, so that their faces cannot be seen.

Did you attend a meeting at which an order was given?

Yes, I did. When anarchists marched in Nicaea, Patelis became angry in the crowded office, and ordered all the men to go down to the city. And all went, with helmets, shields and clubs in order to pursue anarchists.

Where do they hide all this?

Last time, since we expected the police to invade, they had hidden these in Patelis’s car. They took shields and truncheons out of the office and hid them in his car and in his mother's house. Another time we were instructed that if someone has a "pieace of iron" they should give it to him (to Patelis).

Did they have weapons?

Yes, stilettos, expandable batons, weights, I’ve heard that some had weapons, but I have not seen them.

Is George Patelis armed?

No, he isn’t. He makes others do the dirty work, and pretends not to know anything.

You mean that the local organisation in Nicaea takes on the protection of other organisations of Golden Dawn, too?

Yes, it does: whichever organisation calls – from Piraeus, Salamina, Perama, etc. Where there is a problem. The assault group went to Thermopylae and to Salamina. When there were other people, they beat foreigners in order to show who they are.

http://kthnotrofia.pblogs.gr

Have you had clashes with anti-fascists at other times?

No. This was first time when someone said that he was an anti-fascist and he was killed because of that.

What should you do in order to enter the assault group?

You must have a strong stomach and accept everything. You are nothing. Do you know what it is to be told "Fall down!" and be kicked in front of everybody? You're nothing and whatever you are told, you have to do it. You have no opinion. It is an order.

What do you know about the murder of Pavlos Fyssas, what have you heard from other members of Golden Dawn and what do you think happened?

I know that he was in the firing line, because he had anti-fascist songs. There were verses which offended Golden Dawn. Everybody can write whatever they want. However, this doesn’t mean that you have a weapon in your hand. He was anti-fascist and sang about it, and they knew it.

There are witnesses stating that the two members of Golden Dawn who were in the same bar as Fyssas, called somebody and informed him. Based on the hierarchy, who would they call?

Patelis. Everybody has his phone number. And they called either him directly, or someone who told him. Patelis told Lagos. And Lagos should have told Mihaloliakos. While I was in the organisation in Nicaea, we were told that this is the order.

So, what is the hierarchy?

Whatever happens, you have to tell Patelis. You never call Lagos directly. Lagos informs Mihaloliakos.

www.koolnews.gr

Does Lagos inform Katsidiaris, Panayotaros and other members?

I don't know, but I guess that he informs them. At Nicaea, we called Patelis, Patelis called Lagos and we were told that the leader gives the "OK". You could go somewhere only if he allowed it.

Could something happen without the approval of the leader?

Maybe. But without Lagos’s approval - never. Lagos is Nicaea’s “back”. He knows everything about protection, beatings and thefts on Memou Square and Eleftherias.

What do you mean by protection?

We sell protection to bars and restaurants. They want to take it from the Albanians who possess it now.

Do you know where the local organisation in Nicaea takes its finances from?

No. I have only seen contributions from members. People came and gave a 200 euro fee.

www.aformi.gr

What was George Rupakiyas’s connection with the organisation in Nicaea? Was he Patelis’s right hand?

Besides being in the Nucleus, Patelis appointed him with no elections, nothing at all, to the five-member council of Nicaea. And he puts only his own people in the five-member council.

What exactly does the five-member council do?

It takes all decisions about Nicaea. There was a record, but I do not know if it still exists.

That is, there are records that mention names?

Yes, the five-member council includes Patelis, his wife Nitsa, Tsakanikas, who is Egyptian, and since he could not be a member, they put his wife Anastasia, Roupakiyas and a man named Vasilis, but I do not know his last name.

Does George Rupakiyas have a party card?

Yes, he is a member of the party. From the moment you enter the organisation, you pay 20 euro and you show your ID card. You keep your membership card – it should exist in the records. There is also a notebook in which you sign your name when you get the card and provide a phone number, an address where you live, your marital status, and men should state whether they have served in the military and where. This is a standard file. Those who are in the closed Nucleus, have a special card with a photo. The contribution of each member is also recorded.

What do you mean?

How many Pakistanis they have beaten, how many meetings they have attended, how many times they have attended organisational activities.

Who is Nicole Benecki who appeared on pictures together with N. Skarpeli?

She is Lagos’s girlfriend. They expelled her from central offices, since she is Albanian, and he put her in Piraeus. As a Greek, I cannot accept the fact that an Albanian will determine my ideology.

Did assault groups start from Nicaea? How many collisions have they attended?

We were called an assault group. They went everywhere. To Corinth, to the barracks, they started from Nicaea and went down to Corinth and had taken minors with them. The boss, who took them down, stood behind them and was taking pictures without thinking about them.

Who took part in the attack on Communist Party members in Perama?

The same who took part in the deadly attack - Nicaea. And I know it from witnesses who saw them. And I am talking about 150 people who are from the local organisation in Nicaea.

Yes, but they wear helmets...

If I have been seeing you every day for a year and a half, even if you wear a helmet, I'll recognise you.