Greece: Far-right leader sues those he attacked in televised debate

The Greek extreme Right party spokesman who caused an uproar last week by slapping one female politician on live TV and throwing a glass of water on another is suing the two women as well as the television channel that hosted the news show.

The move yesterday by Ilias Kasidiaris, the 31-year-old spokesman for the Golden Dawn party, is the latest twist in a bizarre political saga. Mr Kasidiaris himself avoided an arrest warrant for the confrontation last Thursday, resurfacing late on Sunday after the warrant had expired.

Mr Kasidiris appeared at an Athens court yesterday, flanked by other party members, to submit lawsuits against Communist Party candidate Liana Kanelli and Syriza party member Rena Dourou on charges of alleged unprovoked insults and against Antenna television for alleged illegal detention.

Authorities had issued an arrest warrant for Mr Kasidiaris after he threw water over Ms Dourou and then slapped Ms Kanelli hard three times across the face during a heated discussion on a morning political show last Thursday. A video of that show has been widely seen on the internet.

Under Greek law, an arrest warrant must be carried out by midnight the day after the act has occurred, in which case a trial is immediate. If the suspect is not apprehended within that time frame, the case turns into a judicial procedure in which a trial date is set, often for several months or even years later.

Mr Kasidiaris laid low immediately after the incident, but resurfaced on Sunday evening at the opening of a Golden Dawn office in an outlying part of Athens. No court date has been set yet for him.

He argues that he was provoked by insults during the television show and that the 58-year-old Ms Kanelli hit him first with a newspaper.

He said yesterday he was also suing a journalist at Antenna for “instigation to abuse of power” for allegedly provoking a prosecutor to order his arrest.

Mr Kasidiaris had also been due to stand trial on Monday in a separate case, in which he is accused of participating in a 2007 attack on a student. The case was postponed to 3 September. In it, he faces charges of assisting in a robbery and bodily harm after his car was allegedly used in the incident.

Golden Dawn, which vehemently denies it is a neo-Nazi party, has been accused of violence against immigrants in Athens, and its members have also allegedly been involved in clashes with left-wing and anarchist groups. The party insists it is a nationalist patriotic group.

It campaigned on a platform of ridding Greece of illegal immigrants and cleaning up crime-ridden areas, and advocates mining Greece’s borders to stop illegal immigration. Riding a wave of anger over how mainstream politicians have handled Greece’s deep financial crisis, the party won nearly seven per cent of the vote on 6 May.

The 21 Golden Dawn MPs elected to the country’s parliament – a first for the party – took their seats for a day before parliament was dissolved ahead of a new election on 17 June.