{"id":1540,"date":"2015-10-07T20:28:27","date_gmt":"2015-10-07T18:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/?p=1540"},"modified":"2015-10-07T20:28:27","modified_gmt":"2015-10-07T18:28:27","slug":"u-s-embassy-in-athens-urged-to-send-observers-to-golden-dawn-criminal-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/blog\/u-s-embassy-in-athens-urged-to-send-observers-to-golden-dawn-criminal-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Embassy in Athens Urged to Send Observers to Golden Dawn Criminal Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City<\/em>\u2014Human Rights First today called on the U.S. Embassy in Athens to send trial observers to the important\u00a0criminal trial\u00a0against the leadership and members of Greece\u2019s neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn, who\u00a0are currently on trial for the crime of membership in a criminal organization and murder. The proceedings\u00a0resumed\u00a0earlier in the week following a\u00a0hiatus since May.\u00a0The organization notes that the failure\u00a0to\u00a0attend the resumed proceedings by\u00a0representatives from the\u00a0U.S. Embassy\u00a0is out of step with common practices for high profile trials. The next hearing is scheduled for\u00a0tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States\u00a0has a strong interest in encouraging transparency, a full and fair trial, and adherence to the rule of law. Monitoring the trial will not interfere in internal Greek affairs; on the contrary it will show the Greek government that they have a partner in the United States in ensuring a full and fair proceeding\u00a0that provides\u00a0justice for the victims of violence,\u201d said Human Rights First\u2019s Susan Corke. \u201cIt is untenable\u00a0that the U.S. Embassy in Athens has not sent a trial monitor to observe the proceedings. The United States should work with other governments and international organizations to increase awareness and attention to the trial.”<\/p>\n

Seventy members of Golden Dawn, 13 of whom are still serving in the national parliament, are on trial for operating\u00a0a criminal organization that has been accused of dozens of violent racist and political attacks. In a\u00a0letter to U.S. Ambassador to Greece David Pearce sent in May<\/a>, Human Rights First\u00a0advocated for the U.S. Embassy to send observers to all phases of the trial.<\/p>\n

The antisemitic, xenophobic, homophobic Golden Dawn party burst into Greek politics in 2012. Its top leaders were arrested in September 2013, following the murder of an anti-fascist musician. The party nevertheless won more than 10 percent of the vote in the May 2014 European elections, gaining three seats in the European Parliament. Thirteen\u00a0of the 18 Golden Dawn parliamentarians under indictment were re-elected to their seats in January 2015. The party\u2019s rise is documented in a recent report by Human Rights First, \u201cWe\u2019re not Nazis, but…The Rise of Hate Parties in Hungary and Greece and Why America Should Care<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Golden Dawn lawmakers have denied all wrongdoing. The Greek media has published numerous\u00a0photographs and videos<\/a>\u00a0seized from the suspects\u2019 homes, showing them with swastikas, giving the Heil Hitler salute, and at what appears to be a paramilitary training camp. While such evidence may be important in establishing motivation or preparation for crimes, it is the prosecutor\u2019s responsibility to prove that the defendants, however offensive their political beliefs, were responsible for the specific offenses, which include \u201cdirecting a criminal organization,\u201d weapons charges, and at least one murder.<\/p>\n

Previous criminal trials involving Golden Dawn leaders have been marred by courtroom intimidation by the party\u2019s supporters targeting judges, prosecutors, witnesses, and victims. A prosecution witness was reportedly attacked by Golden Dawn supporters at the opening of the trial on April 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have members of an elected political party on trial for crimes including murder stemming from a racist and anti-Semitic ideology is extremely worrisome in an E.U. country on the frontlines of the current refugee crisis. This trial could be a turning point for Greece in its efforts to confront racism and political extremism,\u201d noted Corke.\u00a0“In addition to supporting a fair trial, the U.S. government should aid in creating reforms to the Greek law enforcement system that would increase its capacity to investigate and punish hate crimes.”<\/p>\n

For more information or to speak with Corke, contact Corinne Duffy atDuffyC@humanrightsfirst.org<\/a>\u00a0or 202-370-3319.<\/p>\n

Source: Human Rights First<\/a><\/p>\n

photo: The Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York City\u2014Human Rights First today called on the U.S. Embassy in Athens to send trial observers to the important\u00a0criminal trial\u00a0against the leadership and members of Greece\u2019s neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn, who\u00a0are currently on trial for the crime of membership in a criminal organization and murder. The proceedings\u00a0resumed\u00a0earlier in the week following a\u00a0hiatus since May.\u00a0The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1542,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions\/1542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}