A three-justice appellate level court in Athens on Monday has rejected motions for mitigating circumstances to be recognized in handing down sentences against seven top cadres of the far-right Golden Dawn party, days after the same court convicted them of running and participating in a criminal organization.
The seven are GD founder and leader Nikos Mihaloliakos, along with Christos Pappas, Artemis Mattheopoulos, Ilias Panagiotaros, Ilias Kasidiaris, Yannis Lagos and Giorgos Germenis. All of the men have served as elected MPs in Greece's parliament, during the extremist party's "heyday" in 2013 and 2015. Lagos today is a deputy in the European Parliament.
Extenuating circumstances were recognized for a handful of lesser known and mostly former GD cadres, although several of the latter were convicted of felonies related to assaults.
The main protagonist in the lengthy and landmark case, which spanned five and a half years, Giorgos Roupakias, was convicted of homicide in the stabbing death of rapper Pavlos Fyssas, in September 2013.
