The initiative Golden Dawn Watch was presented today by the Hellenic League for Human Rights, the Greek Observatory against Fascism and Racist Speech in the Media, which works under the Educational Foundation of ESIEA (Journalists’ Union of Athens Daily Newspapers), the Antifascist League of Athens and Piraeus, and the City of Athens Migrants’ Integration Council.
The main aspect of this initiative is the website goldendawnwatch.org.

The aim:
to make public all information concerning Golden Dawn’s actions and to illuminate all aspects of the trial.
for every citizen, in Greece and abroad, to have continuous and reliable information about everything that happens inside and outside of the courtroom throughout the duration of the trial.
to provide analysis from specialists such as lawyers, the monitoring team of GDW etc.
Dimitris Christopoulos, Vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights stated that ‘The Golden Dawn Trial stands out in Greek criminal history. Not only because it is the first time that a political party is being charged as a criminal organisation, but also because it was delayed for such a long time, so that we had to mourn another victim, Pavlos Fyssas, in order for the procedures which should be self-evident to be launched before the Greek justice system. Golden Dawn Watch aims to provide reliable and up to date information regarding the court proceedings and to keep society vigilant so as to defend Greek democracy from its enemies. Democracy is defended by the law, by constitutional guarantees that apply to everyone. After all it can be defended. Democracy does not remain indifferent in the face of threats’.
Takis Giannopoulos, Representative from the Antifascist League of Athens and Piraeus pointed out, ‘We have a historical opportunity ahead of us regarding the fight against all forms of Nazism and Fascism: to give a decisive blow to the Neo-Nazis by convicting all of their leading party officials in the upcoming trial and to bring down their main argument, that they are a “legitimate political party” in the eyes of society. The President of the City of Athens Migrants’ Integration Council, Lefteris Papagiannakis, expressed the view that, ‘The City of Athens Migrants’ Integration Council is taking part in Golden Dawn Watch to show its commitment to the struggle for a democracy that respects diversity. The communities that are members of the Migrants’ Integration Council are among the victims of Golden Dawn’s fascist violence and they want to show through their presence here that they are ready to defend their rights. As the only institutional representative of immigrant communities, the Migrants’ Integration Council has a very important role and will intervene when it deems necessary’. Finally, Eleftheria Koumantou, coordinator of the Greek Observatory against Fascism and Racist Speech in the Media, stated, ‘The Golden Dawn Trial concerns all of society, and we need to make all of society care about it. At the Greek Observatory against Fascism and Racist Speech in the Media, we are preparing an accord for the terms of coverage of the trial, which we will recommend to the media, and invite them to adopt. Based on this, and with the help of universities, we will create a model for evaluating publications with the aim to publish relevant reports on a regular basis on Golden Dawn Watch on how the media can manage information regarding the trial’.

Golden Dawn Watch is also supported by other organisations, such as Generation 2.0, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and OLKE, and invites other organisations and institutions in Greece and abroad to support this initiative because this trial concerns all of us.


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WWW.goldendawnwatch.org