Greek government seeks to ban Golden Dawn after murder of anti-fascist rapper

Anna Sonny, 20 September 2013

The Greek government is considering placing a ban on Golden Dawn after a man affiliated with the far-right party admitted to murdering anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas. The well-known left-wing rapper, who went by the stage name Killah P, was stabbed to death in Athens on Tuesday.

Golden Dawn tried to deny any links to the perpetrator, but pictures of him present at party functions soon surfaced, sending waves of shock and disgust throughout the country.

Greek Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias said the government will table emergency legislation that will attempt to redefine what constitutes a criminal gang, in order to ban the party.

The murder follows a vicious attack by Golden Dawn activists on Communist party members as they distributed posters in Athens last week. The assault, carried out with crowbars and bats, left nine people in hospital with serious injuries.

A dark backdrop of economic disaster, tax hikes, benefit cuts, unsustainable unemployment levels, social tension and a general atmosphere of bleak desperation has provided the black t-shirted Golden Dawn activists with the perfect conditions to blend into Greece’s social and political fabric; the party entered parliament last year with 18 seats, becoming the third largest and fastest growing political party in Greece.

This is despite its infamous use of violence and intimidation, which spans right through the core of the party – from the grassroots level thugs carrying out attacks on immigrants, to its MPs, one of whom was shown slapping a left-wing female politician in the face live on television, and another who hit a 12-year-old-girl in the face after the punch he threw missed his intended recipient, the mayor of Athens.

The Socialist PASOK party, a member of the governing coalition, has been campaigning for a ban on the ultra-nationalist party; now that Golden Dawn is moving from attacking immigrants to native Greeks, the government is discussing action. The party should have been banned a long time ago.