Greek prisoners release: Selective American condemnation is telling

Nikos Maziotis, a member of the anarchist group Revolutionary Struggle, and Ilias Kasidiaris, a leader of the defunct neo-nazi party Golden Dawn, are polar opposites. Coincidently they both happened to be released from prison in the same week. Their contrasting receptions was revealing.

Kasidiaris was one of the most prominent figures in Golden Dawn before and at its peak of power and influence during the crisis in Greece. Having been a leading member in Golden Dawn’s early years as a far-right street gang he became a well known MP and spokesperson when the party reached parliament in 2012. In 2020 the trial that began following the 2013 murder of Pavlos Fyssas by Golden Dawn judged the party to be a criminal organisation. As a leader of that organisation Kasidiaris was sentenced to 13 and a half years imprisonment. He walked out of prison on Tuesday 15th September having served six years.

Nikos Maziotis was arrested in 2010 along with other members of the anarchist group Revolutionary Struggle. Most active during the mid-2000s Revolutionary Struggle (E.A) quickly became Greece’s most prominent guerilla group. They bombed and attacked banks, police stations, and the US embassy in Athens while using their statements to warn society of the impending capitalist crisis. In March 2010 one of the group’s members, Lambros Foundas, was killed in a shoot out with the police and a month later Maziotis and 5 others were arrested. Maziotis and Pola Roupa both took responsibility for the group and have never denied their role in Revolutionary Struggle. Both escaped during their trial in 2012.

Maziotis was recaptured in 2014 a few months after Revolutionary Struggle claimed responsibility for one of their most spectacular actions, the bombing of the central bank and IMF office in Athens. Roupa was recaptured in 2017 and released in late 2023. Maziotis was released on Monday 14 September, having served 14 years. 20 years is the maximum sentence in the Greek justice system. Maziotis’ 14 years represent a fully served sentence as six years were worked off in prison. This puts him among the very small number of prisoners in Greece’s overcrowded system to serve a full sentence.

Following his release, the US ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle (the former fiancé of Trump’s son) characterised Maziotis as an unrepentant terrorist who has no place in civilised society. This was backing up the State Department which had stated that as a member of a group on its terrorist list Maziotis is barred from entry into the USA. These comments are hardly surprising but they are revealing. The current US administration has already singled out Greece and its anarchists as a threat and a primary example of what it terms far-left violence. Here we have just another, and rather glaring example, of the superpower’s policy of targetting anti-capitalists and anti-fascists while remaining silent on or supporting the far-right. Once they decided to comment, the US administration had the opportunity to show the world which side of the political spectrum they lean towards and which side they oppose.

There can be few doubts about the contrasting political visions these two people represent. Kasidiaris famously has a swastika tattooed on his arm. For years the group he helped lead targeted the vulnerable with extreme physical violence. Immigrants and political opponents were beaten on the streets in a wave of violence that culminated in the murder of the rapper and anti-fascist Pavlos Fyssas. It should be noted that Kasidiaris’ release comes just days away from the 13th anniversary of that murder. Maziotis and Revolutionary Struggle targetted infrastructure such as banks and the stock exchange and only ever fired at armed police. In a recent statement Maziotis and Roupa made clear the group’s ultimate aim; a social revolution of municipalities and assemblies leading to direct democracy.

Their experience of prison could also not be more different. Kasidiaris has been released having served only half of his sentence. Whilst in prison he was able to amass a large social media following of over 100,000. He lent support to various far-right parties and helped one such formation, the Spartans, get elected to parliament in 2023. Only after the election did the courts intervene. A few months ago he received support from Elon Musk. As soon as he walked out of prison he announced to a crowd of supporters that he would soon led a new nationalist party. How this will happen is currently unclear as due to the nature of his conviction current laws ban him from founding a party but it is widely expected he will find a loophole.

He vowed his party would be like the nationalist forces currently on the rise in Europe and America. This shows he may have learnt something. Golden Dawn with its emphasis on street violence appears now as a somewhat outmoded approach. The party significantly and negatively impacted the scene in Greece and Europe but in the past decade the far-right has prospered by replacing the thuggish gangs with polished and professional political parties.

Kasidiaris’ imprisonment did little to hinder his political activity. Yet, when his continued use of social media and running of political parties from prison was questioned far-right commentators were quick to claim censorship based on political views. This was the position endorsed by Musk. This protectors of free speech were silent in the case of Maziotis. Back in 2014 and 2015 he was one of a number of prisoners who organised against attempts to silence anarchist and political prisoners in high-security prisons with limited outside contact. Maziotis and Roupa had to live with threats to remove custody of their young child following their capture. One of the reasons Maziotis was denied parole several times was that he has continued to defend his political views and refused to repent.

The near simultaneous release of these two prisoners is a coincidence, but it is an instructive one. It would be reasonable to assume that the release of prisoners, high-profile ones but with little international appeal, would be passed over as a domestic affair of another country by the world’s current most powerful state. However, the US government saw fit to comment, and on only one of the cases. Their condemnation of Maziotis and silence on Kasidiaris makes their position clear.

Image: Maziotis on his release. Athens Indymedia