Encourages Greek Government to Continue its Crackdown
New York, NY, October 1, 2013 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today commended the decision by the Greek government to take decisive action against the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party by the arrest of the group’s top leaders.
Nikos Michaloliakos and other Golden Dawn members of the Greek Parliament have been charged with membership in a criminal organization with the intent to commit crimes.
“We welcome your government’s decisive action against the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party with the arrests of its top leaders,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, in a letter to Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. “By arresting and prosecuting Golden Dawn’s leaders, your government has made abundantly clear that Golden Dawn has no legitimate role in Greek politics and that the Hellenic Republic will not tolerate neo-Nazis who murder and commit other acts of violence against the objects or opponents of their racism and anti-Semitism.”
ADL also encouraged the Greek government to continue its crackdown on the extremist neo-Nazi party.
“We congratulate you on this critical decision and encourage you to persist with this same level of intensity in the fight against Golden Dawn and any other such purveyors of violence and bigotry,” Mr. Foxman wrote to Mr. Samaras.
Golden Dawn represents a threat to Greece’s democracy and has proclaimed its intent to overthrow the Greek constitutional order. In June 2013, ADL expressed concern about Holocaust denial in the Greek Parliament by the group’s members and urged the passage of a new anti-racism legislation.