A Shocking interview by a former Golden Dawn member

Interview translated by Athens Indymedia

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A former gloden dawn member reveals how the golden dawn thugs organize their assaults, where do their arms “disappear”, but also what may have happened the night Pavlos Fyssas was murdered. He gives names and details on the modus operandi of the assault squads of Golden Dawn in Nikea.

He states that the -by his own confession- murder of Pavlos Fyssas was the lieutenant of the squad and that the 34 year old was targeted due to his antifascist activity.

The former G.D. member was in the Golden Dawn nucleus of Nikea for about one year and a half, where he saw much and lived near the persons of the local sector of the organization, whose lieutenant was the murderer of the 34 year old Pavlos Fyssas.

As he stated in a daily newspaper:

The assault squad of the local sector of Nikea, was under the guidance of Giorgos Patelis and the under the leadership of the MP I. Lagos, it has the hierarchy, the structure and the organization that one can find only in paramilitary criminal groups. The base of operations is the headquarters, where commands are given for assaults against immigrants and for other actions. There are kept there bats, daggers, and folding battons, that are “disappeared” when a police control is imminent.

“In Nikea we refered to Patelis, Patelis to Lagos and from then we would be given the Ok by the leader. If the leader gave the Ok, we took the streets, either to spraypaint on walls, or to attack Pakistanis. The head of Nikea, Patelis, had made a closed nucleus, where only the gym-buff, his own guys, could enter” he goes on, to reveal how the murderer of Pavlos was in the five-member council of Nikea. “Patelis puts there only ones of his own. Roupakias got there without any elections, nothing” the former G.D. member says.

A revelation that confirms everything that was revealed up to now for the Golden Dawn murderer, who may deny being a member of the organization but he even possesses his own party ID, as the former member of Golden Dawn says. “Inside the car of G. Patelis, and also in his mother’s house we were hiding our arms, when we had to”, he states.

The local organization of Nikea.

To join the assault squads of Nikea, one must beling to the clique of G. Patelis, and also to have proven what he’s worth. I. Lagos has the responsibility for the local organizations of the region and especially Nikea.

The unnamed informant goes on with issues that may shock: “When you join the closed nucleus, they issue you a personal booklet where they register your performance. How many events you attended, how many Pakistanis have you beaten up, how many times have you attended the headquarters gatherings…”

Minors are also included in the members of the local sector of Nikea, high school students, that are recruited by older students from inside the school to join the party. “Centaurs” is the name of the youngest generation of members of the organization (translator’s note: centaurs was also the name of the governing’s party New Democracy old assault groups that were headed among others by the cousin of Golden Dawn’s leader Michaloliakos, formed to attack students mobilizations during the ’80es. It has also been reported that the current prime minister was a head of their local sector in Kalamata).

“The local sector got incontrollable at some time. It was hype, everyone wanted to enter the party. G. P. then decided to start an open and a closed nucleus. In the closed nucleus, only swolen, buff guys would be accepted. His own folk, taking pills and becoming buff” the former G.D. member says.

The assault squads of Nikea, according to the testimony, have travelled everywhere. In the clashes outside the immigrants concentration camp in Corinth, they were there, having also minors amongst them.

In the five-member council of Nikea, G.P. puts only his own folk. This council takes every decision. Supposedly this is written in the statutes of the headquarters and they hold the archive files”, the witness explains.

According to what the former member claims, at least 30 persons have been tested and proven their submission to the organization, by attacking immigrants and political adversaries.

He mentions though, that the organization does not utilize only buff guys “with swollen muscles” as he says, but even hackers to perform attacks using facebook. The performance of every member is recorded in a special booklet.

As he mentions, the assault squad of Nikea has its own signs: black and white military style pants and black blouse, a set of clothes they shop from a special store found next to the local police station, that makes a discount for Golden Dawn members.

The police got their backs

The former G.D. member claims that all police checks are “rigged”, since a police officer of Nikea police station is a G.D. member himself and provide the nucleus with information, while he manages to “clean up” for anyone if he happens to be accidentally caught red-handed.

Why Fyssas?

Regarding the murder of Pavlos Fyssas that shocked Greece, he is revealing:

“I know they had targeted him because he wrote antifascist songs. He even had some lyrics swearing at Golden Dawn. That’s brave of him, for me. Anyone should write whatever he wants. It shouldn’t arm your hand. But he was an antifascist and he sung about it and they knew it.”

Indeed, the former member goes on to a revelation about the phonecalls made by the Golden Dawn members who were inside the cafeteria where the victim was, and called the killer.

Who would they called by hierarchy?

“Patelis. Everyone has the phone number of Patelis, and whoever call would call him or someone that would inform him. Patelis refers to Lagos. And Lagos to Michaloliakos. As long as I was a part of Nikea’s local organization, this is how we were told it works.”

How does one become a member?

“You need to pay 20 euro, to show a Greek ID and register. The membership card has on it the name of your organization and the membership number.”

“The get into the hard core you need to have the stomach for it. To be able to accept everything they ask. You ‘re a zero. You know how it is, to order you to drop down and give them bends, and then start kicking you in the ribs in front of everyone? You ‘re nothing and what they say, you must do. You have no opinion of your own. You take orders, that’s all!”

They assaulted mainly immigrants? G.D.’s own illegal commerce.

“The did assault the Pakistanis but that was all about their public image. I cannot accept their logic, firstly they hit the Pakistanis, and then they sell them “protection”. Whomever Pakistani you ask in Nikea laughts when he hears Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn of Nikea sells protection to the Pakistanis.

The local organization takes the clothes that are donated by common people to help the needy, and they give them to Pakistanis in the street market, who sell them on their benches and pay the Golden Dawn their part.

What you describe here is known to MP I. Lagos?

“Everything happens under his surveillance. Lagos knows about everything. Whatever we said, whatever happened, Lagos knew it. Other militants that talked about these things outside the core were beaten. And they had evidence and details about all these, but they were beaten and erased.”

In Perama, during the attack against the communist party members, who were there?

“The same persons with the murder. The Nikea sector. And I know it from witnesses that went in both scenes. And I speak for all the 150 persons that left the local organization of Nikea.” Among other things, the witness reveals that minors are also mobilized in the assault squads.

“In the clashes in Corinth at the camp, they had departed from Nikea to go to Corinth and they also had a minor with them” he says. “The responsible for the operation had set back and merely took pictures, he didn’t care for the children he sent in the frontline.”