On Wednesday 15/6, thousands of workers and young people responded to the call of trade unions, students’ unions, and mass organizations and held a rally outside the Appellate Court in Athens during the appeal trial of the criminal fascist organization Golden Dawn.

All the people demanded that the prison sentences imposed on the Nazi criminals for their crimes at first instance should not be reduced. Those crimes include the murder of the anti-fascist artist P. Fyssas and the murderous attacks against immigrants, KKE and PAME cadres, and other militants. At the same time, the trade unions, students’ unions, and  other mass organizations made it clear that the struggle against fascism continues in every workplace and neighbourhood.

In order to facilitate the participation of the workers in the rally, a lot of trade unions had called for a work stoppage.

The KKE MPs Christos Katsotis, Liana Kaneli (both of them prosecution witnesses), and Diamanto Manolakou attended the trial, which was postponed to early July.

Representatives of trade unions delivered speeches at the rally outside the Court. Giorgos Stefanakis, President of the Trade Union of Workers in Catering-Tourism-Hotels of Attica noted among other things that “One thing is for sure, regardless of the decision of the courts. Fascists and their ideology have been condemned in the workplaces”. In this regard, he assured that the Trade Union will continue to contribute with all its might to the effort of the labour movement to be regrouped, strengthened, and eventually able to consign fascism and the system that gives rise to it to the dustbin of history.

Markos Bekris, president of the Labour Centre of Piraeus and the Container Handling Workers’ Trade Union at the Piers of Piraeus noted that “No matter how many postponements of the trial there are; we will find them wherever they hide and we will be after them”. He reminded the people of the experience of the workers in Piraeus who were confronted with the fascists, either as snitches or bullies of the employers, and clarified that the struggle against fascism continues.

16.06.2022