Greece's Golden Dawn leader and two MPs stripped of parliamentary immunity

2014-06-04 36

The Greek parliament stripped the far-right Golden Dawn leader and two of his MPs of their parliamentary immunity on Wednesday.

It means they can now face charges for illegal possession of firearms.

Nikos Michaloliakos along with Christos Pappas and Yannis Lagos were brought from prison, where they have been held since last autumn for running a criminal gang, to parliament.

Golden Dawn leader, Nikos Michaloliakos, told parliament: “I am an unrepentant nationalist and a proud Golden Dawn member. You cannot bend my soul no matter what you do to me. And I will tell you this: I am ready to go to prison for my ideals , I am even ready to die.”

Euronews correspondent in Athens, Stammatis Giannisis, says that despite charges for criminal activities, Golden Dawn emerged as Greece’s third largest party in Greece in the recent European Parliament elections. They picked up a large part of the protest vote against austerity measures that have hit Greece society so badly over the last four years.

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