Greece prepares trial against Golden Dawn

Greece prepares trial against Golden Dawn

The trial could be one of the most important in Greece's recent history, analysts say.

After spending more than a year compiling 10,000 pages of evidence and digital archives, Greece is set to prosecute the leaders of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party this fall in what promises to be a spectacular trial that could change the country's political landscape.

All of the party's 18 members of parliament have been arrested. Party leader Nikos Michaloliakos and spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris are in detention with half a dozen other MPs facing charges of operating a criminal gang.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's coalition government has been trying to find a way to dismantle the extremists since an anti-fascist hip-hop artist was murdered last year by a man police said belonged to the group.

"It will be a very spectacular trial, perhaps the most popular one in Greece for years due to the involvement of MPs, the passions involved and the polarised political sentiments involved, along with the revelation of many dark angles of the whole story," Ioannis Michaletos, a specialist in the party at the Athens-based Institute for Security and Defence Analysis, told SETimes.

A public prosecutor will recommend the cases against 78 suspects to Council of Appeals judges, who will decide which charges will be brought against them.

The case file includes more than 200 statements from witnesses, some of whom have been placed under protection. Thirty of the suspects, including Michaloliakos, are in pre-trial custody.

Judicial officials said they feared party leaders were using legal tactics to drag out the investigation so that they would have to be released once a maximum 18-month...