Far-right politics

The absence of 11 of the 18 defendants who are scheduled to testify in connection with the September 2013 murder of Pavlos Fyssas in the ongoing trial against the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party prompted the ire of the bench's president on Friday. "The defendants have an obligation to be here. The court has ways of bringing them in," judge Maria Lepeniotou warned.

Four years into the trial of Golden Dawn as a criminal organisation and for the murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas, the court began hearing the testimony of those charged in the case.

One of the key witnesses in the ongoing trial against the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn on Thursday testified to making the call that set off a chain of events culminating in the murder of rapper Pavlos Fyssas in the Piraeus suburb of Keratsini in the early hours of September 18, 2013.

The mother of slain Greek rapper Pavlos Fyssas collapsed in court during the trial of neo-Nazi Golden Dawn on Thursday when the man charged with the musician's murder was brought in to sit at the dock.

More than four years after the start of a major trial against neo-Nazi Golden Dawn (GD) in April 2015, the court proceedings are entering a new phase on Thursday, with the accused taking the stand.

Neo-Nazi MEP Yiannis Lagos will need to apply for a special permit to travel before he can assume his responsibilities in European Parliament, as the terms of his parole prohibit him from leaving the country.

A group of unknown individuals damaged the election campaign kiosks of SYRIZA and neo-Nazi Golden Dawn in the city of Kavala, northern Greece, a local news website reported.

Athens appeals court on Monday commuted life sentences for two men convicted in 2014 for the murder of a 27-year-old Pakistani national while he was cycling to work to terms of 21 years and 5 months, prompting protests. 

The Athens Municipal council on Monday voted overwhelmingly in favor of a recommendation by Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis that the far-right Golden Dawn party not be allowed to use public spaces to hold pre-election rallies.
"We will not give Golden Dawn any of the available public spaces for pre-election promotion because it functions as a criminal organization," he said.

Saturday's protests against Serbian government. Photo: BIRN

Tens of thousands of Serbian citizens marched against the government of President Aleksandar Vucic on Saturday, during what the opposition aimed to be the largest in a series of anti-government rallies that have been held weekly for five months.