Greece cuts off state funding to Golden Dawn

The Greek parliament voted early on Wednesday to cut state funding to the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party following a judicial decision to prosecute its leader as the head of a 'criminal gang'.

Nikos Mihaloliakos, the party leader, and two of its lawmakers were arrested after an anti-fascist rapper was fatally stabbed last month by a Golden Dawn supporter. Four other deputies, among them Eleni Zaroulia, Mr Mihaloliakos's wife, were last week stripped of their parliamentary immunity from prosecution.

The legislation was approved by 235 lawmakers in the 300-member house. Thirty-four others abstained. There were no votes against the motion as Golden Dawn deputies had already walked out of the chamber in protest.

"This move is both unconstitutional and illegal," said Ilias Kasidiaris, the party spokesman.

Golden Dawn will lose its €873,000 share of a €11m annual package of state funding for parliamentary parties.

Mr Kasidiaris said the funding ban would have an impact on the party's social action programme, including the distribution - only to Greeks - of food packages and blood donations but would not affect its policies. He described Mr Mihaloliakos and his two colleagues as "political prisoners."

Greece's coalition government led by premier Antonis Samaras has pledged to "wipe out" Golden Dawn, calling it a threat to democracy.

More than 40 arrests have been made in a police investigation of Golden Dawn's activities, among them police officers accused of colluding in racist attacks on immigrants by party supporters. Nikos Dendias, the public order and citizens' protection minister, has confirmed the existence of Golden Dawn cells in the police force.

The party has curtailed activities at more than 60 offices around the country since its leader was jailed but remains active online through its members' Facebook pages and far-right websites.

Popular support for Golden Dawn had risen to around 11 per cent, according to opinion polls before the killing of Pavlos Fyssas, the rapper. Advisers to Mr Samaras's centre-right New Democracy party said internal polls showed its support rising to 15-18 per cent in the run-up to next year's European parliament elections.

Golden Dawn's popularity has since fallen to around 7 per cent, equal to its vote at last year's general election when it entered parliament for the first time with 18 deputies.

It is still the third most-popular party after New Democracy and its coalition partner, the PanHellenic Socialist Movement.

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