Prisoner’s far-right party barred from participating in elections | Abroad

Greece’s Supreme Court on Tuesday banned the participation in parliamentary elections on May 21 of a political party founded by a former Golden Dawn member of parliament. The man, Ilias Kassidiaris, is serving a long prison sentence.

Kassidiaris is not allowed to run for office, it sounds. He campaigned from prison for his new, far-right party ‘Ellines’ and aspired to a seat in Athens.

Kassidiaris was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2020 for participating in a criminal organization involved in the murder of an anti-fascist rapper. From 2012 to 2019 he was a member of parliament for the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn.

It is the first time since the restoration of democracy in Greece in 1974 that a party has been banned from taking part in elections. Parliament amended the 2021 electoral law for this purpose.

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