ATHENS (AFP) — A Greek appeals court on Wednesday upheld convictions for leaders and members of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn in a landmark trial over crimes committed at the height of the country’s economic crisis.

The court found the officials guilty of “running a criminal organization.” The presiding judge is yet to announce the punishments meted out to the more than 40 defendants, some of whom risk sentences of up to 15 years in prison.

The police minister at the time of the Golden Dawn arrests, now Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, welcomed the ruling as “a historic milestone for the Greek justice system and the rule of law in Greece.”

Crimes attributed to the group include the savage beating of a group of Egyptian fishermen in 2012 and the murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas in 2013.

More than 200 people rallied in front of the tribunal in a show of support for Fyssas, whose killer, Giorgos Roupakias, was again convicted of murder.

Senior prosecution lawyer Kostas Papadakis said Wednesday: “The criminal condemnation of the assault squads of the Nazi criminal organization is now final, and the sentences are expected in the coming days.”

The judge, Fotini Athanassiou, will this week be hearing defense pleas for sentence-mitigating factors.

Several defense lawyers on Wednesday stressed their clients’ prior clean records and the long duration of the case, now stretching into a 13th year.

Senior Golden Dawn cadres have always denied involvement in the attacks, which were carried out by the group’s so-called “assault squads.”

But in her closing arguments last month, prosecutor Kyriaki Stefanatou said the party’s founder and leader, Nikos Michaloliakos, had “complete control and knowledge of what was happening.”

She........

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