Lamia, Greece: Pre-election Nazi salute

Golden Dawn thugs left the city council hall with Nazi salute, while the municipal authorities rushed to condemn the prompt antifascist intervention as ‘undemocratic’…

Already on March 21st, in the small city of Lamia, some neo-Nazis had provoked people’s collectivities by removing posters for the international day against racism (i, ii).

In the evening of April 10th things got even worse, when a city council meeting was held. Scheduled to be discussed was, among others, the issue of inauguration of the notorious concentration camps for immigrants/refugees in the region, a new state project ordered by the ‘civil protection’ minister Michalis Chrysochoidis (a PASOK MP). The specific topic attracted a small group from the local branch of ‘Chrissi Avgi/Golden Dawn’, who felt they could find one more step in order to promote their hate propaganda. In particular, comrades were informed that around eight neo-Nazis not only intended to position themselves as ‘citizens’ on the question of immigration detention camps, but also were distributing texts and pasting posters from early afternoon on the occasion of the municipal meeting.

The response was immediate. Nearly twenty anarchists and antifascists rushed to the place, making sure to tear all Nazi posters off the walls before entering the premises. Inside the city council hall, several leftists supported the comrades’ action, whose aim was to cancel the goldendawners’ filthy speech —what was eventually achieved.

Shortly before the beginning of the city council meeting, the Golden Dawn’s gang had entered undisturbed, led by the neo-Nazi Apostolos Gletsos (the cousin of the homonymous showbiz actor and current Stylidas’ mayor, who was formerly aligned with the KKE Stalinist party). This coward was well prepared to intervene with his Nazi delirium in the council’s circus, but he finally got up from his chair amidst great tension and ordered his minions to follow him to the exit. Once again, the goldendawners were verbally attacked with numerous militant antifascist slogans by the majority of protesters inside the room. The message was clear: freedom of speech doesn’t go together with open support of Nazism.

The gang left the premises threatening bystanders, while one of the fascists used the Nazi salute, imitating their Führer Nikolaos Michaloliakos. Nevertheless, the mayor of Lamia Giorgos Kotronias played once more the leading role in this rigged game of politics, and insisted that stopping others from voicing their opinion is an insult to democratic procedures. Other municipal agents proved either totally indifferent to this situation, or hostile to the protesters, while a few tried to gain impressions since they were faced with enraged individuals —whom they obviously seek to handle as potential voters, instead of sharing the same antifascist views.

Neither in Lamia, nor anywhere
Just smash every fascist’s head

source / corporate video

Note: In January 2011, in Athens, Michaloliakos — newly elected member of the Athens city council that year — stepped in the municipal meeting escorted by his bullies (as always, everywhere he goes). The president of the city council asked him to remain without bodyguards, he refused to do so, and finally leftist members demanded that he be expelled. That’s when Michaloliakos used the Nazi salute before leaving the room.