Athens - The trial of 69 members of the Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, charged with running a criminal organisation, began Monday without the party leader or other main defendants being present.
Golden Dawn founder Nikos Michaloliakos and most of the party's MPs were not in the dock of the specially-built courtroom inside a high security prison near Athens for the opening of the trial, according to an AFP reporter.
Their lawyers gave no explanation for their absence. Michaloliakos and his right-hand man Christos Pappas had been free pending the start of the trial after spending 18 months in preventive custody.
Only around 40 defendants were present.
Michaloliakos and his co-defendants are charged with a range of crimes, including murder and participation in a criminal organisation.
Security was tight both inside and around Korydallos prison, where hundreds of anti-Golden Dawn protesters had gathered.
The trial, which is expected to last for months, will likely decide the future of parliament's third-largest party, an openly xenophobic and anti-Semitic formation that used to be on the fringes of national politics but whose popularity soared as the country sank into economic hardship.
Anti-fascist and anti-racism groups were planning to gather enough supporters to outnumber an expected crowd of Golden Dawn members outside the jail.
"Golden Dawn members usually cram (into) the courtroom from dawn. We do not want this to happen, and will take all necessary measures to prevent it," anti-fascist activist Takis Giannopoulos told AFP in the run-up to the trial.
Outside, local authorities were also preparing for disturbances.
"This is Greece's biggest trial in 40 years. It will last at least 18 months. There will be gatherings by anti-fascist groups and Golden Dawn supporters," Korydallos mayor Stavros Kasimatis told AFP ahead of the trial.
AFP
