Turmoil in Athens as neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn handed landmark criminal convictions

A court convicted Greek neo-Nazi leader Nikos Michaloliakos Wednesday of leading a "criminal organisation" in a landmark trial involving the xenophobic Golden Dawn party.

Mr Michaloliakos and nearly 70 other defendants are on trial for the murder of an anti-fascist rapper and other crimes in a one of the most important trials in Greek political history, which has taken over five years to conclude.

Hundreds of police deployed in the Greek capital ahead of a verdict involving the leaders of neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn.

The police used tear gas and a water cannon to disperse protesters who threw firebombs on the sidelines of a demonstration of some 15,000 people, according to police estimates.

Anti-fascist activists shouted slogans calling for the defendants to be jailed as they waited for the climax of one of the most important trials in the country's modern political history.

The crowd started gathering two hours before the verdicts were due to be handed down, in response a call from the anti-fascist movement, trade unions and parties on the left.

After hearings over the last five years, a criminal court in Athens determined that Golden Dawn is a criminal organisation that carried out violent attacks on opponents on the orders of founder Nikos Michaloliakos and his inner circle.

The prosecutions were sparked by the late-night murder of a 34-year-old anti-fascist rapper called Pavlos Fyssas, who was chased down by a mob of Golden Dawn thugs and stabbed to death in front of a cafe in the western Athens suburb of Keratsini in September 2013.

The killer, a former truck driver, confessed to the crime, but the attack sparked outrage and the charges that Golden Dawn was a paramilitary-style organisation that used beatings, intimidation and murder as tactics - all with the knowledge of senior party members.

Yorgos Roupakias was part of a mob who chased down Mr Fyssas and stabbed him to death and his conviction was greeted with applause and cheers by a crowd of at least 8,000 people gathered outside the court house.

Mr Roupakias faces a possible life sentence.

Unions and leftist parties have called for anti-fascist protests on Wednesday outside the tribunal, located a few kilometres from the historic centre of the capital, where police are expected to deploy in numbers to guard against clashes.

On Tuesday, lawmakers of the main opposition leftist Syriza party held up letters in parliament that spelled "they are not innocent".

There was uproar last year when chief prosecutor Adamantia Economou called for the acquittal of the party leaders on the basis that the existence of a criminal organisation had not been proven.

In total, 68 members of the party have been on trial, including Mr Michaloliakos and more than a dozen other former MPs like him who were elected in 2012 as the openly xenophobic group capitalised on anger over joblessness and migration.

As well as delivering a verdict in the murder trial for Mr Fyssas and the trial of senior leaders of Golden Dawn, the court will also hand down judgements for two other assault cases allegedly involving Golden Dawn members.

An Egyptian fisherman was left with broken teeth and head injuries after being beaten with clubs and metal bars in June 2012 as he slept.

Just over a year later, Communists putting up posters were attacked with nail-studded clubs.

The killer of Mr Fyssas risks life imprisonment, while Golden Dawn founder Mr Michaloliakos and fellow senior leaders risk jail sentences from five to 15 years.

Golden Dawn was at its political peak at the time of Mr Fyssas's murder, having won 18 seats in the 300-seat parliament in 2012 due to anger over a financial crisis in Greece that discredited mainstream political parties.

Three years later, it also sent three deputies to the European parliament in another strong showing.

But the investigation took its toll, causing a number of senior members to defect. In the last election in 2019, the party failed to win a single seat.