Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos was ordered to be held in prison by a judge in Athens until his trial. He is charged with several felonies, including the forming of a criminal organization. Other Golden Dawn lawmakers from the neo-Nazi parties were released on bail. Michaloliakos and several leaders of the neo-Nazi party had been arrested over the weekend. The judge made the decision to incarcerate Michaloliakos on Thursday morning following six hours of testimony that ran through the night.
"You are a diamond - don't buckle," his wife Eleni Zaroulia, a fellow lawmaker, told Michaloliakos as he was guarded out of the courthouse. Earlier, about 200 party supporters waving Greek flags shouted a popular party slogan: "Blood! Honour! Golden Dawn!" Michaloliakos, who was arrested on Saturday alongside other party members, id to be transferred to a high security prison later on Thursday, 'Reuters' reports.
Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou hailed the court decision as an important victory for the Greek legal system, calling it “the most dynamic confrontation of a neo-Nazi criminal gang in European, and possibly world, history.” The crackdown, which included the arrest of more than ten other party leaders, follows widespread outrage and protests in Greece in the wake of the killing of an anti-fascist rapper by a suspected Golden Dawn member.
The European Union, Jewish and other international groups, including the World Jewish Congress, have long urged the Greek government to act against Golden Dawn, which has been accused of being behind dozens of vicious attacks on immigrants in Greece.
Golden Dawn leaders have denied the charges against them and called the decision "the most wretched conspiracy in modern Greek political history".
Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris and fellow lawmakers Ilias Panagiotaros and Nikos Michos stormed out of the court to cheers of "Bravo" from supporters. They spat, kicked and shoved journalists out of the way before hailing a taxi.
"The leader's in, the gang's out!" the Greek daily 'Ta Nea' wrote on its front page. "It is the state's duty to go to the end: The criminals need to be revealed, they need to be tried, and they need to pay," the paper's editorial said.