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Golden Dawn spokesman beat Liana Kannelli on live TV

07 June 2012 / 13:06:31  GRReporter
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Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris beat the representative of the Greek Communist Party Liana Kannelli on live TV on Antenna's morning show. The participants in the political panel of George Papadakis’ show entered into a fierce debate in which the member of the neo-Nazi party threw water in the face of SYRIZA deputy Rena Dourou first and when Kannelli reacted to his action, Kasidiaris first kicked her and then hit her three times. The host Papadakis was crying out helplessly, "No! I won't allow this! Don't do it!"

Prosecutor Eli Raikou has immediately triggered legal proceedings and charged the neo-Nazi deputy with dangerous bodily harm. The police are searching for him in order to catch him as quickly as possible and sue him under the fast-track procedure. For this purpose, they have to capture Kasidiaris in the next 48 hours. Despite the rough incident, Papadakis’ show was not interrupted and after Ilias Kasidiaris was taken out of the studio, Liana Kannelli said, "What happened neither shocked me, nor frightened me. Let all those who voted for Golden Dawn see their true face."

There is a pending case against Ilias Kasidiaris for assisting in a theft, bodily harm, unlawful possession and use of weapons. According to the indictment, the representative of the Public Relations Department of Golden Dawn had rented a car, which was the main vehicle for escape from a crime committed in the campus in Athens in 2007. The perpetrators stabbed a lecturer at the Physics School at the University of Athens and stole his wallet and watch. Citizens in the region saw the registration number of the car with which the attackers left the scene and a police check revealed that Kasidiaris had rented it. He, in turn, denies any involvement in the incident, producing an alibi that he was abroad at that time.

Golden Dawn’s violent behaviour before the cameras has become common since the 1990s. In Makis Trendafilopoulos show "Zougla" in 1998, Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos threw a piece of the studio set at the director Dimitris Kolatto. The cause of the accident was that Kolatto told Michaloliakos he was ill-bred and urged him not to call him by his first name live on TV, since they had not met before. Upon leaving the studio, Michaloliakos said he did not beat up the director only out of respect for the show and production.

 

From the headquarters of KKE, Liana Kannelli stated firmly to GRReporter that she would not file a complaint against Ilias Kasidiaris. "This is not a personal vengeance, but a political act," she explained her decision and added, "I will not let anyone scare me with beatings and abuse. Let the people who voted for such animals see what they are capable of. I will not have bodyguards." Kannelli explained that immediately after the incident in the studio, when the show continued with commercials, the production crew rushed to separate Kasidiaris from the other participants. He was closed in a separate room, from where he threatened to call on his mobile phone 100 "fellows" from Golden Dawn to destroy them. Finally, he broke the door and left in a red Alfa Romeo.

Kanelli told that Kasidiaris’ tension started escalating during the show. However, nothing suggested he would go so far as to demonstrate extreme aggression. The representative of the Communist Party hit his hand with a newspaper to protect the woman who was sitting between them. According to the information, she was pregnant and the aggressive behaviour of Golden Dawn spokesman was a threat to the health of both her and her foetus. The neo-Nazi party responded that Kanelli was to blame for the incident and Golden Dawn wanted to bring charges against her. If she had not hit Kasidiaris on the hand with the newspaper, the situation would not end up in these ridiculous developments.

Social networks are full of comments on what happened and the prevailing sentiments are against it. "Beating at stadiums and throwing stones in the streets has been taken for a common occurrence for years. It was tolerated by all. Now, we officially know that lawmakers can vandalize like ordinary hooligans," wrote a young Greek on Facebook. Golden Dawn supporters did fail to comment on the social networks and to congratulate Ilias Kasidiaris for his men's action. "Well done," "It was not enough for her," "Your hand was slow" were only part of the encouraging comments Kasidiaris get on his Facebook wall. They were the reason the social network administrators to delete his page in the later hours of the day.

Tags: PoliticsLiana KannelliGolden DawnBeatingKasidiaris
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