Greek police sting ties 10 officers to Golden Dawn crimes

Internal probe finds that most of the officers had ‘direct or indirect links’ to neo-Nazi party’s illegal activities

ATHENS, Greece — Greek police said Wednesday that 10 officers arrested during a month-long internal probe had ties to the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party’s suspected criminal activities.

According to a statement, 10 of the 15 officers under arrest had “direct or indirect links” with allegedly illegal activities by the party. Most of the 10 officers under arrest were assigned as guards to protect Golden Dawn lawmakers, police officials were quoted by Greek news site Ekathimerini saying.

“Overall 15 officers were arrested for various crimes… 10 of them were directly or indirectly linked to criminal activities of Golden Dawn,” the head of the internal affairs department Panagiotis Stathis was quoted by AFP saying at a press conference.

The officers were arrested on suspicions including violating firearms and drug laws.

The probe also found a sharp rise in police misconduct since 2009.

Golden Dawn is under a criminal investigation sparked by last month’s fatal stabbing of a Greek rapper, blamed on a party volunteer.

Its leader and two lawmakers have been jailed in pre-trial custody as alleged members of a criminal organization. Another six lawmakers have been stripped of immunity from potential prosecution.