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Anastasia Balezdrova

While the investigation of the case of Golden Dawn continues, discussions on the actions of the institutions over the past few days have started in the Greek public space.

"No institution would have started to act if the Prime Minister’s circle had not created the conditions for the breaking up of Golden Dawn. Many people around Antonis Samaras thought that the majority of the voters who had turned to Golden Dawn would have returned to New Democracy if they had been allowed to act freely. Therefore, namely those around the Prime Minister did not allow the responsible institutions to take action although all were aware of the activities of Golden Dawn."

According to Antonis Roupakiotis, Antonis Samaras’ decision was due to internal and external factors. "The first was his upcoming trip to the USA where he would have been under pressure from the Jewish lobby. The organizations of Greek Jews and other organizations across the world had been warning for a long time that Golden Dawn must be stopped. The second factor was Greece’s Presidency of the European Union as of 1 January 2014. The third was the pressure from the President of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance to the Council of Europe, Nils Muznieks, and from EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström. And the fourth was the murder of Pavlos Fyssas. The murder of a Pakistani was not sufficient to provoke reactions in Greek society."

Roupakiotis pointed out that the failure to adopt a law against racism earlier this year had also been due to purely political reasons. "I am not saying that the law would have solved the problem with Golden Dawn but certainly it would have made the parties assume their responsibility. But when various circles felt threatened by the criminalization of racist speech they forced the majority of the government to retreat and so the bill failed."

He made his statements during a press conference organized by the Hellenic Association of Human Rights entitled "Golden Dawn: What is next? It is to protect law and democracy."

President of the Association and coordinator of the network for registering cases of racist violence Kostis Papaioannou approved the measures taken against the Golden Dawners but criticized in parallel the government and the institutions for their delayed reaction.

"The most important issue now is the protection of democratic order and the compliance with statutory regulations. The fear that hitherto prevailed only among the victims of the extremists’ violence has now reached them. The small number of supporters whom we saw outside the court and the police station shows that they have not been able to penetrate so deeply into society," he said.

"Of course, not all Golden Dawners are criminals and justice has correctly set criteria to separate those who have committed the specific crimes from the others," said professor of constitutional law Nikos Alivizatos. He stressed that laws must be strictly observed in the repression of the Nazi party because "everyone, even the enemies of democracy, have rights that it guarantees them."

The "road map" for dealing with the problem of Golden Dawn drawn up by the Association proposes changes in legislation. Therefore, the debate should focus on the topics that had appeared after the extremists had entered the Greek Parliament, which are the following:

- Whether the law should allow the prohibition of a party

- The conditions under which a deputy can lose his immunity and his seat in parliament

- Whether a party can be prohibited from nominating candidates in the elections if it has been accused of illegal activity and to what extent

- The conditions under which re-elections should be conducted in order to avoid threats of destabilization similar to those made by Nikos Michaloliakos a week ago

At the same time, Vertis Alivizatos urged the left wing to reconsider its attitude towards the institutions. "We cannot agree with some decisions and disagree with others. We either trust or do not trust justice," he said.

"Security is another issue towards which the left wing has to change its attitude. All citizens are entitled to it and, therefore, the opinion that Greece is a multicultural country whose borders should be open to all who want to come without any immigration control should certainly be revised," said the professor.

Former Minister Antonis Roupakiotis fully supported him, stating that it is high time for the left wing to change its attitude towards the solving of the problems caused by uncontrolled immigration. In support of his words he added that during his tenure at the Ministry of Justice he had been approached by residents of neighbourhoods with concentrations of immigrants and a high rate of crime, where Golden Dawn has found the right environment for its rise.