Golden Dawn clashed violently with anarchists in Thessaloniki in 2002 Photo: Wikipedia commons |
Greece is determined to rid its police of "any racist elements," Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Thursday.
"We have ordered a full-scale investigation by the internal department of the Greek police," Dendias said. "Please allow me to say that we are adamant in our target to clean up the Greek police from any racist elements."
Parts of the Greek police have been widely criticized as not only targeting minority groups, but also being complicit with right-wing groups such as the Golden Dawn, which has a neo-Nazi following.
Greece has seen a rise in racist attacks, which are up 20 percent over last year, according to the head of Greece's National Commission for Human Rights.
"Unemployment does exist. An economic crisis does exist. The Greek people, the Greek society is under considerable stress," Dendias told Amanpour from Athens. "But that is no excuse, and it will not be accepted as the excuse for the reappearance of a neo-Nazi phenomenon. Neo-Nazism is completely unacceptable."
Prosecutors are cracking down on Golden Dawn, charging the top leadership with running a criminal organization.
The action is largely seen as a response to the killing of an anti-fascist musician last month; he was stabbed, allegedly by a Golden Dawn supporter.
When police raided the house of Golden Dawn's deputy leader, they found swastikas and Hitler paraphernalia.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has said enough is enough.
"This government," Samaras said, "is determined not to allow the descendants of Nazis to poison our lives, to commit crimes, to terrorize, and to undermine the foundations of the country that gave birth to democracy."
Nonetheless, Golden Dawn is Greece's third most popular party, with 18 seats in parliament.
"What we are just doing is we are asking is for the judiciary to implement the law," Dendias told Amanpour. "Nothing more, nothing less."
After the killing of the artist, Pavlos Fyssas, the Greek government was able to establish a "full chain of command" linking the killing to the Golden Dawn.
"We were able to reveal to the Greek society the true nature of that party," he said. "I believe that the following of that party will greatly diminish as the truth becomes apparent to the Greek society."