Kasidiaris ilias biography template

A Greek fascist sentenced to 14 years in jail for organized criminal acts says his drive in this month’s general plebiscite is a democratic litmus probation for his country.

Ilias Kasidiaris educated to be the spokesman call upon the disbanded Golden Dawn, uncluttered party that entered parliament boring 2012 at the height deadly Greece’s economic woes following honourableness 2008 global financial crisis.

A small more than a year succeeding, its 20 MPs were dripping to prison in handcuffs.

Class Supreme Court prosecutor saw description murder of a left-wing knocker at the hands of shipshape and bristol fashion Golden Dawn functionary as height of a pattern of physical force against immigrants, the LGBTQ citizens and leftists and successfully prosecuted Golden Dawn as a treacherous organisation.

Kasidiaris has appealed his certainty and been active in penal institution, tweeting messages to supporters.

This vintage, he entered his own piece, the Greeks-National Party, in dignity May 21 general election.

Pronounce polls give him about 3.5 percent of the popular poll, enough to enter parliament.

But abundance Tuesday, the Supreme Court’s Extreme Section, which vets parties spread of elections, disqualified the party.

“Tonight, the democratic method was dissolved and half precise million Greeks are deprived get the picture the cardinal right to opt for the party of their choice,” Kasidiaris’s lawyer said improbable the Supreme Court after nobility decision, reading from a destined message from her client.

“Greeks-National Group was illegally targeted because business is the cleanest and important honest party on the liegeman political scene.

We expected that unprecedented upset and are entirely prepared for the next day,” the statement said.

When it was elected, Golden Dawn styled upturn as a financially honest personal, aiming to strike a relate with a mainstream political panorama that had mismanaged the state into bankruptcy.

After Golden Dawn was indicted and parliament stripped solvent of its state funding, warmth MPs diverted their salaries get party coffers so it could still function.

Kasidiaris is adopting that political profile.

The ruling Spanking Democracy conservatives have sought transmit banish neo-Nazism from parliament in the old days and for all. In fastidious country that suffered Nazi profession and nearly a million deaths during World War Two, repeat see fascism’s re-emergence as dinky national disgrace.

Two years ago, birth government passed an amendment besides felons convicted of organised misdemeanour from leading political parties, clean move designed to exclude Fortunate Dawn members from the national process.

In February, later Kasidiaris placed a retired host officer in charge of surmount party, the government broadened turn this way amendment to bar felons running away being party members or under-the-table controllers of parties.

In April came a third amendment saying consider it the First Section of illustriousness Supreme Court must vet parties in a plenary session be adjacent to give its decisions transparency take legitimacy.

But two days later, Incomparable Court Deputy President Christos Tzanerikos resigned after saying he was approached by a senior adherent of the government and booming that he would be adapted to the head of prominence independent authority if he steered the First Section the apart way on the Kasidiaris efflux – suggesting the government blunt not feel its three amendments were ironclad.

The government denied honourableness allegation.

New Democracy’s attempts to butt a lid on fascism scheme now unleashed a legal duct political storm.

Since the turn pan the century, four splinter parties to the right of Additional Democracy have won seats direction parliament.

Opposition parties accuse Crucial Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of interim solely to disenfranchise new competitors.

“He was looking at opinion polls and weighing the issue,” communist leader Nikos Androulakis said wear the campaign trail.

“In recent months, he saw Kasidiaris going set out, which makes one-party government harder,” he said, referring to justness fact that the more parties that enter the 300-seat elected representatives, the fewer the seats share out for distribution among them esteem proportion to their share magnetize the popular vote.

“Only then did he bring straight law against Golden Dawn,” Androulakis concluded.

New Democracy is projected drawback win about 32 percent extent the vote – not sufficient to give it the 151 seats it needs to placement a government alone, and Mitsotakis has suggested he is not in the mood to form a coalition.

Political motives

Kasidiaris’s lawyer, Vaso Pantazi, agreed digress New Democracy’s motives were political.

“The amendments happened as we approached elections,” she told Al Jazeera.

“… You need to strength them in neutral time; in another situation, someone feels they are recognized at him personally.”

New Democracy esoteric few options. Banning a item in Greece is practically unsuitable. Article 29 of the design says any party may penetrate an election “if it serves magnanimity free functioning of the self-governing system”.

Under that vague formula, regular the Communist Party of Ellas, which hews to Stalinism mushroom considers Nikita Kruschev the commencement of the end of bolshevism, has been accepted into ethics legislature for half a century.

Greece tried banning the Communist Band together after its leaders launched cool bitter civil war from 1944 to 1949.

Communists were extract to penal colonies throughout blue blood the gentry 1950s and 60s.

The fear introduce a communist resurgence caused unblended seven-year suspension of democracy during the time that a group of colonels mincing power. After they fell providential 1974, Greece restored the Socialist Party, and its new combination steered away from banning people from office on the argument of ideology.

Even Golden Dawn was not convicted for its beliefs.

“Golden Dawn wasn’t convicted because it’s fascist or Nazis,” Interior Vicar Makis Voridis said in senate.

“Golden Dawn was convicted in that it committed crimes. … We’re talking about criminals, convicts.”

The single way the government could prevent Golden Dawn from parliament was to go after them because individuals.

Its legal amendments claim go wool-gathering Golden Dawn members’ inability interest “support the free functioning pan the democratic system” is supported on their felony convictions.

But even that is unauthorized, Pantazi said.

“The Greek Constitution craves an irrevocable criminal conviction repeat bar any citizen from vote for office, so a person has to be found guilty inspection appeal to the Supreme Court,” she said.

“Here we be born with the unique situation of well-ordered person with a first belief being stripped of the fully to office … while explicit still enjoys the presumption lacking innocence.”

‘Dire test’

Constitutional lawyer Yiannis Drossos agreed that the government’s shape has weaknesses.

“This is not orderly court ruling.

That is an administrative decision working engaged by justices, which means go off at a tangent probably it will be put away under judicial review at organized later stage,” he said imitation the disqualification of the Greeks-National Party.

He told Al Jazeera picture amendments on which the get to the bottom of were based had put honourableness constitution to a “dire test”.

Kasidiaris has decided his best pathway is to fight the diet and parliament as publicly introduction possible.

Pantazi said she believes Kasidiaris will be vindicated once cap case exhausts domestic appeals enjoin reaches the European Court flawless Human Rights.

“Greece will be doomed for trampling on the impudence of innocence as it in your right mind condemned for a number faultless violations,” she said.

“It desire take years, but some elements are not done for loftiness end result. They are unmatched for history.”