Furore at Golden Dawn trial after prosecutor rejects all extenuating circumstances

A furore broke out during Thursday's session of the Golden Dawn trial after the prosecutor on the bench, Adamantia Economou, recommended that the court reject all extenuating circumstances put forward by the defendants.

She excepted only the former MPs Dimitris Koukoutsis, Stathis Boukouras and Chrysovalantis Alexopoulos, who had asked for a specific extenuating instances based on the old penal code.

The court was forced to adjourn the session after the rest of the defence counsel raised an uproar, so that they might also lodge similar requests.

Commenting on her recommendation, the prosecutor noted that it was "contradictory for you to have judged them guilty of serious offences and crimes that strike at the democratic political system and for me to propose extenuating circumstances."

The prosecutor's address lasting only a few minutes, with Economou calling for the summary rejection of all extenuating circumstances put forward by the defendants, barring the specific three, who asked for the lighter sentence envisaged by older legislation for members of a criminal organisation that do not face other charges connected with the organisation's activity.

An uproar ensued, with each defence lawyer addressing the bench to say that their own client also satisfied the same criteria. The court therefore adjourned so that the other defendants could also make similar requests.