Greek disgust on nazi violence

From daily The Independent in Britain:

Anti-fascist fury in Athens after far-right MP hit rival

Nathalie Savaricas

Athens, Saturday 09 June 2012

Greeks gathered for anti-fascist rallies across the country last night to protest against the actions of a far-right politician who punched a female opponent on a television show and then went on the run.

Ilias Kasidiaris, the Golden Dawn spokesman, attacked a left-wing candidate, Liana Kanelli, and threw a glass of water at another opponent in the heated debate on Thursday morning. He continued to evade police last night, with his arrest warrant due to expire today. A police spokesman, Athanassios Kokkalakis, told state TV: “We’ve been checking all the usual spots were this particular man could be.”

As protesters massed for the evening rallies, Greeks took to the internet to express outrage at the actions of Mr Kasidiaris. Writing on the popular Protagon website, Dimitris, a photographer and computer science student, said that Mr Kasidiaris revealed the true nature of Golden Dawn. “They’re dangerous neo-Nazis, so what happened was expected although absolutely unacceptable.”

Maria Svoronou, a film director, echoed that: “I’m shocked by the incident but then again I’m shocked that people like these exist.”

…

But the political analyst Theodore Couloumbis told Reuters news agency that he thought it could cost the anti-immigrant party votes. “My first reaction is that it will hurt their chances, especially with women,” Mr Couloumbis said. “You saw right in front of you the full brutality and ugly behaviour of a young neo-Nazi man beating up a defenceless woman. It’s as simple as that.”

Women’s groups also condemned Mr Kasidiaris, while a journalists’ union asked that Golden Dawn members be banned from news shows.