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Nikolaos Michaloliakos

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Nikolaos G. Michaloliakos (Greek: Νικόλαος Γ. Μιχαλολιάκος, pronounced [niˈkolaos mixaloˈʎakos]; born 11 December 1957) is a Greek politician and convicted criminal.[1][2][3][4] He is the founder and leader of the far-right party Golden Dawn. In October 2020, he and 67 other Golden Dawn leaders were found guilty of leading a criminal organisation by the Athens Appeals Court.[5][6]

Nikolaos Michaloliakos
Nikolaos Michaloliakos in 2012
General Secretary of the Golden Dawn
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 1993
Member of the Hellenic Parliament
In office
28 June 2012 – 7 July 2019
Member of the Athens Council
In office
1 January 2011 – 17 May 2012
Succeeded byIoannis Vouldis
Personal details
Born
Nikolaos G. Michaloliakos

(1957-12-11) 11 December 1957 (age 66)
Athens, Kingdom of Greece
Political partyGolden Dawn
Other political
affiliations		4th of August Party (1973–1984)
National Political Union (1984–1985)
SpouseEleni Zaroulia
ChildrenOurania Michaloliakou
Alma materNational and Kapodistrian University of Athens
OccupationPolitician
Military service
Allegiance Greece
Branch/serviceHellenic Army

Early life and education

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Michaloliakos was born in Athens in 1957. According to his party, he completed his studies at the Faculty of Mathematics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.[7]

Political involvement

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At the age of 16, he joined the nationalist 4th of August Party of Konstantinos Plevris. He also participated in the Athens local organisation of EOKA-B. He was arrested for the first time in July 1974, during a protest outside the British embassy in Athens, against the stance of the United Kingdom toward the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.[7] He was arrested again for assaulting journalists covering the December 1976 funeral of Evangelos Mallios, a policeman who tortured people[8] during the Regime of the Colonels,[9] assassinated by the terrorist group 17N, but was released.[10][11][12][13] While he was in prison, Michaloliakos met the leaders of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974.[10] After that he joined the Hellenic Army and became a commander of the Fast Attack Craft Command.[10] He was arrested again in July 1978 and sentenced to one year imprisonment in January 1979 for illegally carrying guns and explosives.[10][11] He was also dismissed from his position in the army.[7]

After he was released, he launched the Golden Dawn magazine. The politics of the magazine were, initially, closely aligned with Nazi beliefs.[10][11] The publication of the magazine ceased in April 1984, when Michaloliakos joined the National Political Union, and took over the leadership of its youth section, after a personal order of Georgios Papadopoulos.[10] In January 1985, he broke away from the National Political Union and founded the "Popular National Movement - Golden Dawn".

Michaloliakos remained the leader of Golden Dawn until he announced its disbandment in November 2005.[14] He took this step due to clashes with anti-fascists.[14] In 2005–2007, he (like most members of Golden Dawn) continued his political activity through the Patriotic Alliance.[10] The party was reformed under his leadership in 2007.[15]

Golden Dawn as a political party drew public attention in the 1990s and early 2000.[10][11] In May 2012, under Michaloliakos' leadership, it garnered 21 seats in Parliament during an election conducted amid Greece's severe financial crisis, and was embroiled in various controversies, attracting international attention.[16] A particularly controversial point was Michaloliakos's denial of the existence of the gas chambers, which the Nazis used to murder Jews, homosexuals, and other persons during World War II.[17]

Arrest

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Following the fatal stabbing of the antifascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas on 17 September 2013 by a supporter of his party,[18] Michaloliakos was arrested in a 28 September 2013 sweep, along with numerous other Golden Dawn leaders on the charges of being involved in a criminal organisation.[19] The charge sheet included murder, extortion, and involvement in the disappearance of up to 100 immigrants.[20] After 18 months of pretrial detention, the maximum allowed, Michaloliakos was released from jail and placed under house arrest.[21] On 29 July 2015, his house arrest was lifted, but he was prohibited from leaving the Attica region.[22]

In April 2015, the trial of Michaloliakos and 68 other defendants began at the high-security Korydallos prison in Athens,[23] but was adjourned a number of times for technical reasons and to find a more suitable setting.[24] Michaloliakos was one of 68 Golden Dawn leaders who were found guilty in October 2020. He was sentenced to 13.5 years in prison[6][25] but was granted early release in May 2024 following a legal request and on account of his elderly age, albeit with several conditions such as a ban on traveling outside the greater Athens area.[26] However, his release was subsequently overturned by another panel of judges following an appeal that found that he had shown no repentance for his crimes and was capable of reoffending. This led to him being rearrested in his residence in Athens on 3 June.[27]

Personal life

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He is the husband of fellow Golden Dawn member Eleni Zaroulia.[28] His daughter Ourania was one of six people arrested during a motorcycle attack against immigrants; all six were later released.[29][30]

In a televised interview, Michaloliakos publicly insulted Milwaukee Bucks forward and 2019 and 2020 NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo after he was selected as the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft, calling him a "chimpanzee". He even publicly stated that Antetokounmpo and his family should have been detained and deported immediately after their meeting with then-Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.[31]

Publications

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  • Enemies of the Regime (Εχθροί του Καθεστώτος), 2000
  • Against All (Εναντίον Όλων), 2001
  • The Last Loyals (Οι Τελευταίοι Πιστοί), 2002
  • For a Greater Greece in a Free Europe (Για μια Μεγάλη Ελλάδα σε μια Ελεύθερη Ευρώπη), 2000
  • Pericles Giannopoulos: The Apollonian Speech (Περικλής Γιαννόπουλος: Ο Απολλώνιος Λόγος), 2006
  • The Confession of a National (Η Εξομολόγηση ενός Εθνικού), reprinted in 2008
  • From the Ashes of Berlin to Globalisation (Από τις Στάχτες του Βερολίνου στην Παγκοσμιοποίηση), 2008
  • Defending National Memory (Υπερασπίζοντας την Εθνική Μνήμη), 2009

References

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  1. ^ "Greece Golden Dawn: Neo-Nazi leaders guilty of running crime gang". BBC News. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  2. ^ Chappell, Bill (20 October 2020). "Golden Dawn: Leader Of Greek Neo-Nazi Party Sentenced To 13 Years In Prison". NPR. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Greek court imprisons far-right Golden Dawn party leadership". Al Jazeera. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  4. ^ Stamouli, Nektaria (7 October 2020). "Greece's Golden Dawn leaders guilty of running a criminal gang". Politico. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Greece Golden Dawn: Neo-Nazi leaders guilty of running crime gang". BBC News. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  6. ^ a b Mitchell, Jonathan (7 October 2020). "Greece: Leader of neo-Nazi Golden Dawn convicted of 'leading a criminal organisation'". Euronews.
  7. ^ a b c "Article about Michaloliakos published on Golden Dawn's website". Archived from the original on 2 October 2013.
  8. ^ Greece Suspends Sentences Of 3 Convicted as Torturers published by New York Times
  9. ^ athensnews.gr Archived 17 February 2013 at archive.today
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h "Το κλούβιο "αβγό του φιδιού"". To Vima. 11 September 2005.
  11. ^ a b c d 2/7/1998 article published in Eleftherotypia newspaper
  12. ^ Article published on BBC News Online website
  13. ^ Greek Embassy (Consulate General, Los Angeles, USA) website Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ a b 01/12/05 article published by www.in.gr
  15. ^ Golden Dawn taps into voter anger and fear Archived 9 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine in Athens News
  16. ^ "Wordpress suspends Golden Dawn's blog". Ekathimerini.com.
  17. ^ Neo-Nazi chief denies gas chambers existed Independent Online (South Africa)
  18. ^ Strickland, Patrick. "Greece mourns slain anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  19. ^ Lowen, Mark (28 September 2013). "Greece's Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos held". BBC. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  20. ^ Channel 4 News (29 September 2013). "Swastikas but no faces please - Golden Dawn in crisis". Retrieved 30 September 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ Skordas, Aggelos (20 March 2015). "Extreme Right Golden Dawn Leader Michaloliakos and MP Lagos Released Ahead of Trial". GreekReporter. Greece. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  22. ^ "Golden Dawn chief, wife, released from house arrest". ekathimerini. Greece. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  23. ^ Ayiomamitis, Paris (20 April 2015). "Trial of far-right Golden Dawn leaders starts in Greece". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  24. ^ Smith, Helena (7 May 2015). "Golden Dawn leaders' trial adjourned until next week". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  25. ^ Smith, Helena (14 June 2022). "Appeal trial for jailed Golden Dawn leaders to start amid anti-fascist protests". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  26. ^ "Head of Greek extreme far-right Golden Dawn party is granted early release from prison". Associated Press. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  27. ^ "Greek extreme far-right leader to return to prison after judges rescind his early release". Associated Press. 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  28. ^ Rashty, Sandy (11 October 2012). "Greek neo-Nazi party on EU equality committee". Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  29. ^ Smith, Helena (7 June 2012). "Golden Dawn MP's live TV assault shocks Greece". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  30. ^ Houlakis, Pantelis; Souliotis, Yiannis (21 June 2012). "Violence against migrants in Greece intensifies". Ekathimerini. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  31. ^ Evangeloulis, George (10 February 2019). "Why The "Greek Freak" Matters, Even Outside of Basketball". Medium. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
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