Greece: Golden Dawn thug stabs hip-hop singer to death

The Antifa.cz website reports that a group of between 20-25 neo-Nazis and sympathizers of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party assaulted hip-hop singer Pavlos Fyssase and three of his friends just after midnight on Wednesday, 18 September in the Keratsini suburb of Athens, Greece. Fyssas, who had participated in organizing concerts against fascism under his artistic name, Killah P, later succumbed to his stab wounds. 

Agence-France Presse reports that Greek President Karolos Papulias sharply condemned the incident. Various other politicians and public figures as well as the media have also condemned it.

The attack began in a café in Athens. The victims fled to the street but were blocked from escaping by one of the assailant’s cars.

A man exited the vehicle and stabbed Fyssas in the belly and chest before running away with the other neo-Nazis. "It took the ambulance 35 minutes to get there and doctors declared him dead on arrival at the hospital," Antifa.cz reports.

The murderer is alleged to be 45-year-old Georgios Roupakias (Γεώργιος Ρουπακιάς), who is well-known to local anti-fascists in Athens for his neo-Nazi activities. He has confessed to being an active member of the Golden Dawn party, which currently has 20 MPs. 

Greek Police raided the offices of the right-wing extremist party later that day. The party is responsible for a series of violent incidents in which assailants have beaten up foreigners or their Greek ideological opponents, but its officials say they are not responsible for this murder.

Approximately 200 anti-fascists gathered at the scene of the crime in the early morning hours. Other spontaneous demonstrations took place at that time in the center of Athens, Exarchia, and Solun.

On Wednesday evening roughly 5 000 demonstrators gathered at the murder scene, some of whom clashed with police. Other clashes were reported from Solun in the north of the country, as well as from Chania (in Crete), Laris, Patras and Xanthi.

It is not yet clear whether the clashes resulted in any injuries. In Athens, some demonstrators threw rocks and pieces of wood at police officers, who responded with tear gas. 

Agence-France Presse reports that most of the people participating in the protests were anarchists and ultra-left activists who also set garbage cans on fire in the streets. All of the protests followed a similar course.