



After soaring as high as 12 percent and more in polls, support for the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party dropped 2.5 percent in the immediate aftermath of the killing of an anti-fascist on Sept. 18, for which a party member was charged

Golden Dawn, which rose from an obscure 0.29 percent showing in 2009 to get 6.97 percent in the 2012 elections on the back of its anti-immigrant stance and opposition to austerity measures the government is imposing on the orders of international lenders, is now at only 5.8 percent, down from 8.3 percent on Sept. 15, according to a survey taken by the agency Rass for the Eleftheros Typos newspaper,

Most Greeks – 77.8 percent – said they believe Golden Dawn was involved in the killing, while only 13.5 percent said no and 57.6 percent said the party threatens democracy.

Golden Dawn rose from being a fringe party with 0.29 percent of the vote in 2009 to win 18 seats in the assembly in the June 2012 elections with 6.97 percent.

It had been soaring in polls before a rampage of violence blamed on the party, including assaults on immigrants and Communists and rants against Capitalists, bankers, Jews, gays, foreigners and anyone else deemed an enemy of the party or not 100 percent Greek with a lineage to prove it.

Asked to describe the party, 47.5 of respondents called it a “fascist organization,” 30.7 percent called it a “criminal organization under the guise of a political party,” and 16.9 percent described it as a “populist nationalist movement”.

Meanwhile, authorities are intensifying their investigation and attempts to rein in the extremists and said they’ve identified 10 more party members as part of their probe into the stabbing death of Pavlos Fyssas on Sept. 18 after an altercation at a taverna where people were watching a Greek team play a European league soccer match.

Giorgos Roupakias, who authorities said belongs to Golden Dawn, was remanded in custody over the weekend while waiting a further court appearance. He said he regretted the killing.

The names of the Golden Dawn members’ linked to the killing of Fyssas were discovered following a probe of the suspect’s phone records.

A Piraeus prosecutor also authorized an investigation into the phone records of several more Golden Dawn members, including the head of the party’s Nikaia branch in southeastern Attica.

A decision regarding Roupakias’ transfer to a local prison was expected on Sept. 22, after the chief of Korydallos Prison refused to accept him after he was remanded in custody over the weekend, citing security reasons.

Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Dendias also proposed legislation that could block state funding for Golden Dawn if authorities find connections to the murder.

Dendias proposed a law that would not allow funding to parties if their leader or more than a tenth of their lawmakers are charged with a felony carrying a 10-year jail term. Golden Dawn, which remains Greece’s third most popular party, has denied involvement.



