Greece’s Supreme Court today barred far-right Ellines (Greeks) party from the May 21 general elections. As reported by state television, the court justified the decision by saying that the founder and backer of the party, the well-known right-wing extremist Ilias Kasidiaris, is already in prison for forming a criminal organization.
In Greece there is a law that can be used to ban a party from participating in parliamentary elections in precisely this case.
Kasidiaris was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2020 as one of the leaders of the far-right Golden Dawn party – the party, which was also represented in the Greek parliament for a while, was classified as a criminal organization at the time and was practically dissolved when the leaders ended up in prison.
