| Revision as of 12:55, 19 August 2006 editMichalis Famelis (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users2,837 edits →Illegal activities: not only the Monastirioton synagogue.← Previous edit | Revision as of 12:57, 19 August 2006 edit undoMitsos (talk | contribs)2,569 edits I don't thing hrisi avgi is islamophovic (it supports iran and hisbolah), instead it is anti-capitalistic (see the website)Next edit → | ||
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| '''Xrisi Aygi''', also '''Hrisi Avgi''', (] '''Χρυσή Αυγή''', "Golden Dawn") was, until 2005, a Greek ] party, with an ], ] and ] philosophy. | '''Xrisi Aygi''', also '''Hrisi Avgi''', (] '''Χρυσή Αυγή''', "Golden Dawn") was, until 2005, a Greek ] party, with an ], ] and ] philosophy. | ||
| Hrisi Avgi described itself as "The Popular National Movement" with the ideology of ''Έθνος-Φυλή'' "Nation-Race" central to its platform. The party claimed to be comprised of "young people, workers, students, professionals, farmers, day-laborers and the unemployed," - in effect claiming to be broader in terms of appeal to more mainstream political parties and movements. | Hrisi Avgi described itself as "The Popular National Movement" with the ideology of ''Έθνος-Φυλή'' "Nation-Race" central to its platform. The party claimed to be comprised of "young people, workers, students, professionals, farmers, day-laborers and the unemployed," - in effect claiming to be broader in terms of appeal to more mainstream political parties and movements. | ||
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Xrisi Aygi, also Hrisi Avgi, (Greek Χρυσή Αυγή, "Golden Dawn") was, until 2005, a Greek neo-Nazi party, with an anti-Semitic, anti-Capitalistic and anti-Immigrant philosophy.
Hrisi Avgi described itself as "The Popular National Movement" with the ideology of Έθνος-Φυλή "Nation-Race" central to its platform. The party claimed to be comprised of "young people, workers, students, professionals, farmers, day-laborers and the unemployed," - in effect claiming to be broader in terms of appeal to more mainstream political parties and movements.
The party's symbol was a red flag bearing a black meander pattern ("greek key") with white trim. An image on its website features a burning cross.
Hrisi Avgi has been lumped in with various far-right, nationalist groups by its opponents, citing the fact that members of the group ran as candidates under the Popular Orthodox Rally flag in several elections. However, unlike the Hellenic Front (which is more like the French Front National) and other tradionalist, nationalist and religious conservative movements, Hrisi Avgi openly espoused Nazi-like symbols and ideology and putsch-style methods and advocated much more radical solutions to immigration, irridenta and border issues.
Τhe party also holded a staunchly homophobic stance. During a 2005 gay pride parade in Athens, they distributed fliers with homophobic messages.
Activities
Hrisi Avgi (and now Patiotiki Symmachia) holds annual marches on 27-30th of January, in memory of the three Greek officers who died during the Imia military crisis, in 1996. According to the European National Front website, the 2006 march was attended by 2.500 people.
Also, Hrisi Avgi organized an annual rally on 17th of June in memory of Alexander The Great, in Thessaloniki. In 2006 the rally was attacked by the police, who forced the members of Hrisi Avgi and Patriotiki Symmachia to leave the area. According to the European National Front, the police acted without any order of the state attorney.
Later the same day, members of Hrisi Avgi tried to protest, by gathering inside the local building of state’s TV channel. Then, police squads surrounded and arrested 48 of them. They were found guilty of carrying arms (Greek flags according to Hrisi Avgi), and got away with a 500 euro fine.
Illegal activities
Members of Hrisi Avgi have at times been engaged in various cases of assaults against immigrants, leftists and anarchists or even people with dressing standards that they find unacceptable.
In 2000 the Monastirioton synagogue, the memorial for Holocaust victims and the jewish cemetary in Thessaloniki were vandalized and dececrated by unknown culprits. At both cites Hrisi Avgi symbols were present. KIS, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece , the left political party Synaspismos and the Greek Helsinki Monitor attributed these dececrations directly to Hrisi Avgi.
In 2004 after a football game between Greece and Albania in Tirane, in which Greece lost 2-1, violence against Albanian immigrants erupted in various parts of Greece. Anti-fascists have stated that Hrisi Avgi was instrumental in carrying out the attacks.
The Periandros case
From 1998 to September 14, 2005, when he surrendered to the authorities, Antonis Androutsopoulos, a prominent member of Hrisi Avgi better known under his alias Periandros, was on the run for the attempted murder of leftist student Dimitris Kousouris.
In the meanwhile, Androutsopoulos had been convicted in abstentia to four years of imprisonment, for illegal weapon possession, while the charges against him for the brutal beating of Dimitris Kousouris were still standing.
The authorities' failure to apprehend "Periandros" for seven years raised criticisms by the media. An article on the Greek newspaper Ta Nea claimed that Periandros remained in Greece and evaded arrest owing to his connections with the police.
However, in a 2004 interview, the former Minister of Public Order of PASOK, Michalis Chrysochoidis, claimed that such accusations were unfounded and blamed the inefficiency of the Greek Police instead. In 2005, when Androutsopoulos surrendered, it was estimated that he had evaded arrest because he had been residing in Venezuela, where he fled after charges against him were pressed. "Periandros" is currently awaiting trial in the Malandrinos prison.
Attacks against Hrisi Avgi
Hrisi Avgi's offices have been attacked several times, by anarchists and anti-fascists . One of these attacks was the reason for the organization's disbandment . In a more recent case were attacked with bombs and set to fire. The organization Anti-fascist Action took the responsibility for this attack. According to Hrisi Avgi, three suspects were arrested and set free . Also, the month before, three members of Hrisi Avgi were attacked by anarchists and one of them was in comma for three weeks . However, many members of Hrisi Avgi (such as Periandros and others) have attacked against anarchists and anti-fascists.
Disbandment
In December 1, 2005 according to the leader of the party, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, the organization has ceased to exist, due to clashes with anti-fascists. Its members, though, have been instructed to continue activity in the Patriotiki Symmachia party.
Allegations of connections to the Greek Police
There have been numerous times when possible connections between the Greek Police and Hrisi Avgi or neo-nazis in general have troubled the greek media.
In 1998 in an interview to the newspaper Eleftherotypia about the Periandros case, then Minister of Public Order, Georgios Romaios, addmited the existence of "fascist elements in the Greek police", and vowed to supress them. In a TV interview, Romaios again confirmed the existence of a group inside the police, though not organized and in isolated cases.
The same year, the Iospress journalist team of Eleftherotypia published a lengthy article under the name The lower limbs of the police (Greek:"Τα κάτω άκρα της αστυνομίας") , in which various indications of such connections were presented. In the same article, then PASOK MP, Paraskevas Paraskevopoulos was quoted from a speech at the Hellenic Parliament referring to a riot caused by the far right extremists in Thessaloniki in 30/10/97: "In Thessaloniki it is widely discussed that far-right organisations are active in the security forces. Members of such organisations were the planners and chief executioners of the riot and nobody was arrested. A Special Forces officer, speaking at a briefing of Special Forces policemen that where to be on duty that day, told the policemen not to arrest anyone because the rioters were not enemies and threatened that should this be overlooked there would be penalties. How is the minister of Public Order planning to deal with this?" The article also reffered to statements by the Minister of the Press and the Media (Government spokesman) Dimitris Reppas that strongly denied any such connections.
Before the surrender of Androutsopoulos, an article by the newspaper Ta Nea claimed that the group had close relationships with some parts of the Greek police force. In relation to the "Periandros case", the article reported the opinion of an unspecified police officer that "half the force wanted Periandros arrested and the other half didn't". The article also claimed knowledge of a confidential internal police investigation which concluded that :
- The group had very good relations and contacts with officers of the force -on and off duty- as well as with common policemen.
- The police provided the group with batons and radio communications equipment during mass demonstrations, mainly during celebrations of the Athens Polytechnic uprising and during rallies by leftist and anarchist groups so as to provoke riots.
- The connections of the group with the force as well as the connections of "Periandros" himself largely delayed his arrest.
- The brother of "Periandros", also a member of Hrisi Avgi, was a security escort of an unnamed New Democracy MP.
- Most Hrisi Avgi members were illegaly carrying weapons.
The newspaper produced a single photograph of a typewritten paragraph with no identifiable insignia as evidence for the secret investigation in question. In the article, the then Minister of Public Order, Michalis Chrysochoidis, to whom the alleged investigation was addressed, responded that he did not recollect such a probe. Chrysochoidis also attributed the ineficiency of the police in the case of Periandros to the same reasons for which greek terrorist groups, such as the Revolutionary Organization 17 November, evaded arrest for decades, namely "stupidity and incopetence" on behalf of the police.
Notes
- 27/06/2005 article by Eleftherotypia
- ENF gathers in Athens from the European National Front website.
- ^ 48 Greek nationalists arrested from the ENF website
- Hrisi Avgi press release (in Greek)
- Article by the magazine KLIK that presents many such cases (in Greek)
- ^ Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece press release (in Greek). Also contains photographs of the dececrations.
- Greek Helsinki Monitor press release (in Greek)
- A-Infos: Greece, Anarchist block at antiracist demo in Athens
- ^ 17/04/2004 article by Ta Nea (in Greek)
- 14/09/2005 article by Kathimerini
- 14/09/2005 article by Eleftherotypia (in Greek)
- 27/04/2004 article by Kathimerini (in Greek)
- 14/09/2005 article by Kathimerini (in Greek)
- from the website of European National Front
- ^ 01/12/05 article by www.in.gr (in Greek)
- Golden Dawn stops their activities, ENF website
- Athens News Agency: Press Review in Greek, 98-06-29
- ^ Iospress article part 3 (in Greek)
- Iospress article part 1 (in Greek)
- Image from the article of Ta Nea
See Also
External links
- Official site of Hrisi Avgi(in Greek)
- Official site of Patriotiki Symmachia (in Greek)
- A lengthy article by the KLIK magazine about Hrisi Avgi (in Greek)