Eleni Zaroulia

"I was elected as a deputy in 2012 by the Greek people. How could the Greek people possibly elect the leaders of a criminal organization?" Eleni Zaroulia, the wife of Golden Dawn chief Nikos Michaloliakos, told judges during her testimony last week.

The trial of neo-Nazi Golden Dawn continued on Wednesday with testimony by Eleni Zaroulia, the wife of party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, contradicting claims by a defense witness regarding developments on the night after leftist rapper Pavlos Fyssas was killed by a member of GD in September 2013.

The Council of Appeals Court Judges on Wednesday ruled that Golden Dawn MP Eleni Zaroulia, the wife of detained party chief Nikos Michaloliakos, was to remain under house arrest pending trial over charges of running a criminal organization.

Golden Dawn MP Eleni Zaroulia, the wife of detained party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, was put under house arrest on Wednesday following a disagreement between the two magistrates leading an investigation into GD and a prosecutor overseeing the probe about her fate pending trial on charges of running a criminal organization.

 Magistrates to hear MPs’ testimonies after leader’s objection rebuffed

The two magistrates leading a criminal investigation into Golden Dawn are set to resume hearing testimonies from MPs of the neofascist party on Wednesday after a judicial council rejected an appeal by detained GD leader Nikos Michaloliakos for them to be dismissed due to alleged bias.

A request for the dismissal of two special magistrates, Ioanna Klapa and Maria Dimitripoulou, who are leading a probe into the activities of ultra nationalist party Golden Dawn was rejected by an Athens court on Tuesday.

The request was filed by party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, currently in pre-trial custody over charges of organizing and managing a criminal organization.

A deposition by Golden Dawn lawmaker Constantinos Barbarousis was postponed to June 25 on Wednesday. The extension was granted by two special magistrates leading a probe into the ultra nationalist party’s activities.

The decision was made following a request for the dismissal of the two magistrates filed by Golden Dawn leader, Nikos Michaloliakos on Tuesday.

Tuesday's deposition of Golden Dawn MP Eleni Zaroulia in connection with the ongoing investigation into whether the ultranationalist party constitutes a criminal organization was postponed after the party leader and her husband, Nikos Michaloliakos, filed a request for the dismissal of the two magistrates leading the probe.

A former Golden Dawn deputy was released after testifying on Monday before the two magistrates probing whether the far-right constitutes a criminal organization,

Chrysovalantis Alexopoulos, a Larissa MP who resigned from the party in early March, has denied charges of involvement in a criminal organization.

Golden Dawn MP Michalis Arvanitis was released by magistrates on Friday on the condition that he does not engage in any hate speech.

He is the first of the far-right party’s lawmakers to be granted this form of conditional release.