By Elena Galari

Ilias Kasidiaris spoke in his apology to the appellate court about despicable criminal acts committed by supporters of Golden Dawn.

The man sentenced to 13 years in prison and an additional six months in the first degree, denied the charge of directing a criminal organization attributed to him, he described the murder of Pavlos Fyssas as a despicable murder, which he said he condemned from the first moment, but also the attack against the Egyptian fishermen.

“There is no address of a criminal organization. The public hate speech referred to in the charge is “punishable by imprisonment”. “I have said some harsh expressions. Tell me when I made public hate speech? It is not stated anywhere where this hate speech is. I am assigned the role of the alleged trainer. Who was I training?

President: When did you learn about the Fyssa murder?

Accused: I learned about it the next day from journalists who wanted me to make statements about the matter. I had been told that the report said that he was killed for fan reasons.

President: So when you gave the interviews you did not know that it was Roupakias and that there were several people from the Local Organization of Nice in that place?

Defendant: I was not aware of that. I had said that the Fyssa murder was the Golden Dawn murder. It is reprehensible because one of our fellow citizens died, but for me it is doubly reprehensible because the perpetrator was in Golden Dawn. It was a heinous crime that was committed in front of a large group of police officers and no one caught it and they killed me too because I have served six years in prison.

In another part of his apology, Ilias Kasidiaris said that “if I could go back in time, Golden Dawn offices should not have been opened nationwide. Totally lost control”, while also referring to the military press. Everything I have been experiencing as a Greek citizen for so many years is because the offices were opened.

Ilias Kasidiaris denied the military-type training he allegedly participated in.

“I do not take part in any military training and the photos of me actually wearing a camouflage uniform are in the context of activities with the reserve officers’ club that with the permission of the Ministry of National Defense you march in army uniform. I am assigned the role of the alleged trainer of a given criminal organization. Who was I training??? How many thousands of pages do not say who I trained? There is a major problem in the category. The first instance court found it and solved it by outlawing it. He falsified information in the case file. There is no criminal decision to falsify evidence with a photo I have with some. When did I train them? There has been no such thing until today,” said the accused, who mentioned how he decided to join the Golden Dawn party.

“As soon as I finished the pan-Hellenic exams I had ideological searches, there were three parties at that time, the Greek Front of Vorides, but it did not have a large percentage, the party of Pleuris, but Golden Dawn was not functioning either. As a student, I saw the views of Michaloliakos, his positions expressed me and I went”, said Ilias Kasidiaris.