Appeals court sends Golden Dawn leaders back to prison

The ruling by the Five-Member Court of Appeals marks the definitive judicial end for what was once Greece's most violent political force. Ms. Eleni Zaroulia, a former lawmaker and spouse of the party founder, was sentenced to five years for membership in a criminal organization.

She was among four defendants who had remained free pending appeal but were taken into custody following the announcement.

The court upheld the 2020 landmark convictions for the party's top leadership, including Mr. Michaloliakos, Mr. Ilias Kasidiaris, and Mr. Ioannis Lagos.

While several leaders were already incarcerated, the appellate process finalized their 13-year sentences for directing a criminal enterprise.

Mr. Giorgos Dimou, Mr. Konstantinos Papadopoulos, and Mr. Georgios Skalkos were also ordered to prison with sentences ranging from five to seven years for their roles in the 2013 murder of anti-fascist musician Pavlos Fyssas and a brutal assault on Egyptian fishermen.

"Pavlos, we won," said Ms. Magda Fyssas, the victim's mother, who has become a national symbol of resistance during the 11-year legal battle. "I am taking my Pavlos and leaving. I won't have to be among those who murdered my child anymore."

The court upheld the conviction of Mr. Giorgos Roupakias, the party associate who confessed to stabbing Fyssas, maintaining his sentence of life plus 10 years.

Of the 42 defendants, 32 saw their original sentences confirmed, while nine received slight reductions due to mitigating factors.

The verdict effectively dismantles the remnants of a party that rose from the fringes to become Greece's third-largest political movement during the debt crisis, using a paramilitary structure to target migrants and political opponents.