Greek Police Ignoring Far-Right Violence, Says ex-Union Leader

A former Greek police union leader said that authorities are ignoring the violence far-right groups are committing against immigrants and urged the police to take steps to crack down on it.

Dimitris Kyriazidis, the former head of the police union, said, “The police leadership has to take immediate measures against incidents of vigilantism, which are taking place across the country with immigrants as the target,” according to the Ekathimerini newspaper.

The violence by far-right groups is associated with the political party Chrysi Avgi, or Golden Dawn. The party is described by politicians and sometimes by the media as a neo-Nazi group. Two weeks ago they gained 7 percent of the vote in elections, or 18 seats in parliament.

In a highly publicized incident, Golden Dawn spokesperson Ilias Kasidiaris attacked two other politicians on live television, including throwing punches at a female member of parliament, but he was not apprehended.

Greece’s police “cannot turn a blind eye to far-right groups that are affiliated to Chrysi Avgi and which are rampaging through the country,” Kyriazidis said. In the June election Kyriazidis was elected as a New Democracy MP for the northern Greece constituency of Drama.

The Golden Dawn on Friday complained that it was being ignored in Parliament, as it was blocked from fielding a candidate to be a deputy speaker. In a statement, the group called the move a “constitutional violation,” reported The Associated Press.

“They have joined forces,” Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos was quoted as saying, referring to the other political parties in Parliament. “They agreed on everything … And I’d like to state that our exclusion … shows who the system is afraid of.”

Read more at The Epoch Times