In the acquittal of Nikos Michaloliakou, Ilias Kasidiaris and Pan. Iliopoulos concluded the XNUMXrd Single-Member Criminal Court of Athens. With the announcement of the decision, supporters of Kasidiaris who were in the courtroom, began to applaud him.
The three convicted in the case of the Golden Dawn criminal organization sat on the bench after a lawsuit filed against them by Pan. Dimitras for inciting racist hatred.
The occasion was the depositions of those convicted in the Golden Dawn case in Parliament in March 2018 against the minority MPs, for whom Kasidiaris, Iliopoulos and Michaloliakos argued that they are "agents of Turkey" as they have a "Turkish conscience".
In his testimony in court, Ilias Kasidiaris asserted, among other things, the following: "I never referred to ethnic origin or national consciousness. I only referred to the statements of Recep Tayyip Erdogan." In his trial apology, Panagiotis Iliopoulos claimed that he was not even present at the specific committee, a claim that was also made by Nikos Michaloliakos.
Earlier, the district attorney requested the discharge of the accused, stating: "Mihaloliakos and Iliopoulos did not participate in the specific committee and I recommend their discharge. The specific phrase was not said but even if it had been said it does not fall under racist speech. It does not contain phrases that incite violence". The advocate of Ilias Kasidiaris Vasso Pantazis stated that an appeal has also been made by the Kasidiaris party against the "Hellenes" party because it uses the sun of Vergina. Responding to a related question from journalists, Mrs. Pantazi ruled out any cooperation with Kanellopoulos's party, nor with that of Nikolopoulos.
SOURCE: protothema.gr