Galery

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Early this morning, a 31-year-old man was killed with a firearm in Eleftherias Square in the Korydallos suburb in Athens. At first, the motives for the murder were unknown but it became clear a little later that the Greek police suspected the killed person of the murder of two members of Golden Dawn outside the party office in Neo Iraklio on 1 November last year.

The victim, known by the nickname "Pitsilas", was charged with organizing the bombing of the police station in Korydallos two years ago. In addition, the authorities have evidence suggesting his involvement in the murder of Golden Dawners George Foundoulis and Manolis Kapelonis during a possible joint action of criminals and anarchists.

                                      
"Pitsilas" had been involved in other attacks as well. This is evidenced by the fact that the police investigated his possible involvement in two armed attacks against persons who participated in bank robberies in September 2013.

The 31-year-old man was killed while eating at a restaurant which is open at night too. He was shot by a man who arrived at the scene on a motorcycle and fled immediately afterwards. The victim was transported to a hospital where the doctors confirmed that the two shots, in the head and body, had killed him.

It is worth noting that another 31-year-old man had been killed approximately at the same place and time on 3 August 2012.

The responsibility for the murders of the two Golden Dawners in Neo Iraklio had been assumed by the group "Military People's Revolutionary Forces" that had appeared on the scene at that time. A few days after the attack, the police received data and records of phone calls, according to which anarchists were in close contact with the particular "core" of criminals in Korydallos prison. According to the same data, they had been involved in the double murder of the Golden Dawners. However, the data were not supported by sufficient evidence.

For the moment it remains unclear whether the murder of 31-year-old "Pitsilas" relates to settling accounts among criminals or if it was an attempt to conceal data on the attack against the members of Golden Dawn.

At the same time the surprises relating to the results of the first round of municipal elections, in which Golden Dawn received significant support, continue. Its results in the Keratsini neighbourhood of rapper Pavlos Fyssas, who was murdered by party members as well as in the surrounding neighbourhoods of Nicaea, Perama and Salamina, are particularly high. Although the neo-Nazi party had no candidates for local municipalities, Golden Dawn nomination for governor of Attica Ilias Panagiotaros received very strong support.

According to Ethnos newspaper, the average rate of the party in the second district of Piraeus reached 11%, being the same in the whole of Attica. In the neighbourhood of Pavlos Fyssas, Keratsini, the results of the neo-Nazis start from 5.97% and reach 15.41%. At the polling station at the school, which Fyssas attended when he was a child and which is located just two crossings away from where Roupakias fatally stabbed him, the average rate of Golden Dawn reached 10.53%.
 
The extreme right recorded its greatest electoral success in the neighbouring Perama district. 19.85 percent of voters supported Golden Dawn at polling station 6378, which was located on the street where a group of Golden Dawners had carried out a bloody attack against trade unionists of the Communist Party of Greece in 2013. The support for Panagiotaros at the remaining sections in the same constituency was also very high. He received 14.02% at one of the polling stations and 18.36% at the other.

In Nicaea where, according to the judicial investigation, the Golden Dawners have been able to form the most active "military" group, the average rate for Golden Dawn was 11.37% at the first polling station, 11.02% at the second and 10.64% at the third. The triumph of neo-Nazis in this area was in the municipality of Agios Ioannis Rendis where Panagiotaros received 17.7% of the votes.

The situation is similar on the island of Salamina, which is part of the same constituency, as it reported the highest rate in favour of Golden Dawn, namely 26.26%.

According to the report of Ethnos newspaper, residents of Pavlos Fyssas’ neighbourhood argue that the majority of the voters of Golden Dawn are middle-aged. "I heard people aged 35 years saying that they voted for them to punish the politicians, because they do not tolerate the presence of immigrants, unemployment and memoranda," said another resident of Keratsini.

Others argue that some of the people voted for the party because they had obtained food from it. Some women even said that the Golden Dawners had paid their electricity bills to ensure their votes.

However, some of Keratsini's residents are surprised by the high rates of Golden Dawn. "This is a disgrace to the neighbourhood. Here we are democratic people. It is unacceptable to have votes in favour of Golden Dawn here."