Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn, counter-demonstrators, clash in Athens

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Greek authorities say 14 people were due to appear in court Thursday following their arrests during extensive clashes between members of far-right groups and participants in a counter-demonstration.

Supporters of the extreme right group Golden Dawn defied a blanket police ban on demonstrations in greater Athens late Wednesday and clashed with protesters from a rival rally led by left-wing organizations that also defied the order.

The violence around the center of Athens spilled into a train and onto a platform of the city’s subway system.

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Police initially detained 60 people but later released most of them. The 14 who were arrested face charges of committing public disturbance offenses.

A minister for public order said Thursday that an investigation had been launched into allegations of police brutality after an amateur video posted online appeared to show members of a motorcycle police unit repeatedly punching a detained protester on the ground.

The Greek flag is photographed cast against a clear sky. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The far-right protest was organized to mark a decade since the fatal shooting of two members of Golden Dawn, a group with Neo-Nazi origins linked to multiple street attacks that mostly targeted migrants.

Golden Dawn once was a political party that was represented in Greece’s parliament between 2012 and 2019. A court declared it a criminal organization in 2020. The group’s leader was jailed for 13 years, along with other top members.

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On Wednesday, police detained 21 Italian nationals at Athens International Airport who allegedly traveled to Greece to attend the far-right rally. They were deported back to Italy, authorities said.

The government denied claims it had relaxed the protest ban.

“There was no tolerance (of the far-right rally). Multiple police operations were carried out,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said.

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“The police, correctly, do not ask for political identity of people committing illegal acts. They do their job and arrest them,” Marinakis said.