From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Prominent Greek neo-Nazi exits prison, vows to return to politics
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
The former spokesman of Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, Ilias Kasidiaris, was released from prison today and vows a return to politics.
Kasidiaris, 45, was handed a 13-year sentence as a leading member of the violent outfit that for years carried out beatings of migrants and political opponents, and the 2013 murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas.
Dozens of supporters, several holding Greek flags, wait for him outside prison.
“Ilias we are with you,” many chant.
His release comes during a rise of the far right in several European countries, including Germany, where the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party recently won a regional election, a first since World War II.
Formerly a Golden Dawn MP from 2012 to 2019, Kasidiaris was jailed for six years and worked off the rest of his sentence while behind bars.
He previously spent a year in pre-trial detention in 2014 before his incarceration in 2020.
Even during his incarceration, the former food chemist never ceased his political activity on social media, particularly on his YouTube channel, which has 162,000 subscribers.
In July he drew the attention of Elon Musk, whom he has praised as “the most eminent personality in the world.” The multibillionaire, who backs far-right groups in Europe including AfD in Germany, said on X on July 17 that Kasidiaris’s continued incarceration was “messed up.”
Before his imprisonment in October 2020, the former Golden Dawn spokesman had launched a new political party, the Hellenes, and tried from his cell to run as a candidate in the 2023 legislative elections. But the Greek Supreme Court banned his party from the ballot.
A former drill instructor of Golden Dawn members, Kasidiaris has been pictured with a swastika tattoo on his left arm and is known for fits of violence. During a television talk show in 2012, he slapped a communist MP and threw a glass of water in the face of a left-wing party lawmaker. He has also spat at and struck camera crews.
Legal experts have noted that Kasidiaris is barred from running for office until 2033, when his prison term was to nominally end.
The Times of Israel Community.