Golden Dawn may be finished but the far-right lives on in Greece

A court this week may have ruled that Golden Dawn is a criminal organisation but that does not mean the ideas which made it popular have disappeared, reports Venetia Rainey in Greece

Supporters of far-right Golden Dawn take to the streets with torches (AP)

After five years, around 450 sessions and more than 200 witnesses, the Court of Appeal in Athens this week finally gave its verdict on the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn: guilty as charged.  

The long-awaited ruling that the far-right group is a criminal organisation, not a legitimate political entity, as well as the conviction of a number of its members of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm should be the final nail in the movement’s coffin. Sentencing will be announced in the coming days.

Once the third-largest party in Greece, attracting nearly half a million votes at its peak in 2012, its ultra-nationalist, anti-immigrant, antisemitic platform failed to win any seats in last year’s election and the party has since been plagued by in-fighting and desertions. On Wednesday, as nearly 20,000 anti-fascist protesters gathered to celebrate the court’s decision, Golden Dawn’s leadership was conspicuously silent.