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An insight into Golden Dawn: Interview with ex member reveals their practices

category greece / turkey / cyprus | anti-fascism | interview author Saturday September 21, 2013 18:01author by Glykosymoritis - 1 of Anarkismo Editorial Group Report this post to the editors

Interview by ex-Golden Dawn member allows insight into the group’s structure and explains what could have happened with Pavlos’ murder
Mainstream media have been reposting excerpts of an interview given by an ex-Golden Dawn member to Ethnos, a conservative Athens daily. The full interview is available in paper only, and not a source that we would ever republish from, but the interview is very revealling about the Golden Dawn’s structure, tactics and methods.
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“From Patelis to Lagos and then to the leader”
The ex-member of the Golden Dawn was part of the branch of Golden Dawn in Nikea for approximately 1,5 year; he saw much and he lived closely the leaders of the local branch, in which the murderer of Pavlos Fyssas, Giorgos Roupakias, was the second in command.
It should be noted that the editors of Ethnos have the full details of the member who spoke to them, but do not publish them for obvious reasons.
As he stated:
- the raid squad of the Golden Dawn’s Nikea branch, ran by Giorgos Patelis and under the supervision of the MP I. Lagos, has the hierarchy, structure and organisation one only comes across in paramilitary, criminal gangs. Their base and HQ are their local office, which is where the commands come from for attacks against migrants and other actions. That is where they store bats, knives and foldable butons, which “disappear” when a police check is imminent.
“In Nikea we would inform Patelis, Patelis would inform Lagos and from that point on they would tell us that it is the leader who gives the final OK”. “If the leader gave the OK we would take to the streets, either in order to write slogans on the walls, or in order to attack Pakistanis”.
- “The commander of Nikea, Patelis, created a closed group (nucleus). There, it was only the muscled guys – his people” he goes on to say, in order to reveal that the murderer of Pavlos was in the 5-man Comittee of [the] Nikea [branch]. “This is where Patelis puts his own people”.
“Roupakias entered that with no elections, with nothing”, says the ex-GD member. A revelation that confirms all that has been already revealed about the GD murderer, who may had claimed that he was not part of the organisation but even had a party ID, as the ex-GD member tells the newspaper. “In the car of Patelis and in the house of his mother, we would put our weapons when we had to hide them”, he says.
The local GD branch in Nikea
In order for one to enter the raid squad of Nikea, they must be part of the clique of G.P. and to have proven their worth. Ioannis Lagos [G.D.'s Perama MP] has under his command the local branches of the area, and the one of Nikea in particular.
The anonymous informant says things that shock. “When you enter the closed nucleus, they issue you with a special booklet, in which they record your performance. How many of the events you have attended, whether you beat up Pakistanis, how many times you have been to the organisation of the office…”
Among the members of the Local Branch of Nikea there are also underage, students in junior high-school and high-school, enlisted by their elder students from the schools in order for them, too to enter the party. This younger generation of members of the organisation is called “Centaurs”.
“At some point, the branch spiraled out of control. It was fashionable for everyone to enter. G.P. then decided to make an Open and a Closed nucleus. In the closed one, there would be only the heavies. His people, who take pills and build muscle”.
“The raid squads of Nikea, according to the witness, have gone everywhere. To the incidents in Corinth and at the camp, they had left from Nikea and went up to Corinth, even taking one underage with them.
G.P. only puts his own people in the 5-people committee of the branch. This committee is the one that takes all decisions. This is supposed to be written in the statue of the branch, and they had an archive, too”, explains the witness.
According to what the ex-member claims, at least 30 people had been tried out and they had proven their faith in the organisation, which you prove by attacking migrants and other opponents.
But he mentions that the organisation does not only used trained men – “not only trained muscle”, s he says, but even hackers in order to conduct attacks via facebook. The performance of the members would be recorded in a special booklet.
“We sell protection to the shops. They want to take this from the Albanians”.
Side-by-side with the local Police Station
As he states, the raid squads of Nikea had their own apperance: black and white combat trousers and black t-shirts, which they would purchase from a shop just next to the area’s police station – and which also makes a special discount for Golden Dawn members.
The police covers them
The ex-Golden Dawn member claims that police checks are “pre-agreed”, since a police man who works at the Nikea Police Station is also a GD member and passes on information to the GD core, while he also takes on “cleaning up” for those who may get caught “red handed”.
Why Fyssas?
Regarding the assassination of Pavlos Fyssas, which sent shock-waves across the country, he is revealing:
“I know that they had much against him because he had anti-fascist songs. He had some lyrics where he slanders the GD. For me, it’s fair enough that he does that. Anyone can write whatever they ant. But he does not arm your hand. He was an anti-fascist and he was signing about it, and they knew that”.
The ex-member also makes a revelation concerning the phone calls that were made by the GD members, who were at the same cafe with the victim and which informed the murderer.
Who would they call according to the hierarchy?
“Patelis. They all have Patelis’ number and whoever called would either call him directly, or someone who would inform him. Patelis informed Lagos. And Lagos would inform Michaloliakos. For as long as I was in the Nikea group, that’s how we had been told things function”.
How do you become a member?
“You pay 20 euro, you show a greek ID card and you subscribe. The member card writes what local group you belong to, and you have a member number, too”.
“In order to enter the hard nucleus, you must be tough. To take it all. You are zero. Do you know what it feels like, for them to tell you drop on the floor and give me twenty”, to kick you on the side, in front of everyone? You are nothing and you must do whatever you are told. You have no opinion. It is an order, that’s it!”.
Did they hit migrants primarily? GD’s informal trade
“They would hit Pakistanis only so that people would see that. Because I cannot accept this logic that says, I hit Pakistanis but then I sell them protection. No matter what Pakistani you ask in Nikea, they will laugh if they hear about Golden Dawn. The GD’s office sells protection to the Pakistanis.
The local group of Nikea takes the clothes that plain people give to help those without funds, and they then give them to Pakistanis in the street markets, who sell them on the stalls and then give a percentage to the GD members”.
Does Lagos [the GD MP] know the things you describe?
These only take place with his knowledge. Lagos is informed about everything. Anything we said, anything that happened, Lagos knew it. Others who came out and said this stuff were beated up. They had shown up with information and with proof, and they beat them and expelled them.
In Perama, who was present at the attack against the KKE members?

“It was the same people who went to the killing. The Nikea group. I know it from witnesses who saw them at both points. And I am talking about the 150 people who left the Nikea group”.

source OCCUPIED LONDON - FROM THE GREEK STREETS
(http://blog.occupiedlondon.org/2013/09/21/interview-by-...rder/)

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