The Best of GRReporter
flag_bg flag_gr flag_gb

The Black Legions of Golden Dawn in the Greek police

25 November 2012 / 18:11:33  GRReporter
3212 reads

Nikos Dendias, Minister of Public Order, issued an order according to which all allegations of racist behaviour or arbitrariness on the part of the police should be investigated. The list of cases compiled by the management of the police, describes shocking details of fascist actions by police officers which are in harmony with the practices of Golden Dawn. There is evidence of violence, insults on a sexual basis, thefts, intimidation, beating, and destruction of documents. The current investigation makes it is clear that in most cases the police officers involved are also in a close relationship with Golden Dawn. Some cases with indictments have been passed to the prosecution. Justice will intervene in the rest of the cases after the investigation ends.

Cases of racism and dereliction of duty by police officers should acts as an alert for the leadership of the Ministry, which has decided to be ruthless in the face of all criminal acts. Nikos Dendias's political order to the relevant authorities to investigate allegations of immigrants and organisations for protection of human rights is clear: all cases related to police brutality should be investigated as a priority. If employees are found guilty, they will be severely punished, as the penalty includes dismissal as well.

A senior source from the Ministry told Ethnos newspaper that nobody claims there are no officers who maintain relations with Golden Dawn or support their ideology. However, their behaviour should not be identified with the police as a whole, nor with the majority of police officers. If those who behave like racists are investigated and punished, this will serve as an example to others who want to emulate them.

As evidence of the importance of these cases, Nikos Dendias announced the creation of special units to combat racist violence. Despite the forthcoming restructuring of the police, according to the Minister, these services should start operating as soon as possible. According to the plan, the units will be created in the security services in Athens and Thessaloniki and relevant offices will function in Attiki and in all districts. A telephone line will be opened for receiving signals on such matters, whether anonymous or not, against police officers or civil citizens. When perpetrators are citizens, the cases will be investigated by the relevant department, and when these are police officers - by the Greek police Directorate for Internal Investigations. Dendias said that this is the political will, and this has become clear to everyone inside and outside the police, as well as to the general public. Police personnel is expected to perform their duty as defined by the Constitution, laws and internal regulations. In case of violation, there will be no indulgence at all.

The existence of Golden Dawn "enclaves" among the uniformed personnel became clear also from the results of the election polls in May-June 2012. Both polls in the 11 electoral district of Athens, where thousands of police officers serving in Attica vote, showed record rates for the extreme right for Greece. In each of these polling stations (ten in number) some 550 to 700 voters were registered, as 20-30% of them were police officers who tipped the balance of results towards Golden Dawn. In all these polling stations in the June elections, Golden Dawn won between 17.2% and 23.01%; approximately the same support of the party was shown in the May polls as well. If these results are compared to the percentage of police officers voting there, it becomes clear that about half of them have supported Golden Dawn. This becomes even more evident if the percentages of the extreme right are compared to the results in the polling stations, where no police officers vote. There, Golden Dawn won about 5.35% to 6.57%.

Tags: Nikos Dendias Golden Dawn racism police officers investigation
SUPPORT US!
GRReporter’s content is brought to you for free 7 days a week by a team of highly professional journalists, translators, photographers, operators, software developers, designers. If you like and follow our work, consider whether you could support us financially with an amount at your choice.
Subscription
You can support us only once as well.
blog comments powered by Disqus