Ex-candidate for Golden Dawn sues party leaders for libel

Ilias Stavrou, a former Golden Dawn candidate, has filed defamaion charges against the jailed leader of Greece’s neofascist party Nikos Michaloliakos, MP Ilias Kasidiaris and the administrator of the GD website after online posts described him as “mentally ill.”

The allegations appeared after Stavrou (photo), who joined GD about 10 years ago, left the party and testified in the ongoing criminal investigation into the organization.

In comments on Thursday, the 27-year-old, who is considered a key witness in the case, said his decision to quit GD was met with a “psychological war” from GD officials. “I was a hostage... They tried to bury me professionally and socially,” he said while labeling GD as a “gang of murderers posing as a political party.”

“Golden Dawn is a systemic party. MPs would often go out with Parliament staff and spend hundreds of euros in restaurants... only to speak about the memorandum and people’s poverty the day after,” he added.