Police and anti-fascists clash in Greece after Golden Dawn murder
A protester wears a gas mask during clashes with police in the western Athens working class suburb of Keratsini on September 18, 2013, after a leftist musician was murdered by a suspected neo-Nazi.
Greece's prime minister on Thursday vowed to rein in the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party after the murder of an anti-fascist singer by one of its supporters sparked nationwide outrage.
"This government is determined not to allow the descendants of the Nazis to poison our social life, to commit crimes, terrorize and undermine the foundations of the country that gave birth to democracy," Antonis Samaras said in a televised address.
The murder early on Wednesday of popular hip hop artist Pavlos Fyssas, who wrote music under the nickname Killah P, led to mounting calls for a check on the party's activities.
Many experts have argued that current legislation would make it difficult to slap an outright ban on Golden Dawn, a measure that could be challenged as undemocratic after the party picked up over 400,000 votes in the last election.
Nevertheless, the government spokesman on Thursday said steps would be taken to expose the group's "criminal" acts and isolate it.
"The law will be applied and we believe that this will be the conclusion," government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou told Skai television.
"Starting from the perpetrators, we will (address) the organization's structure and how it essentially encouraged criminal acts. A simple ban is not enough," Kedikoglou said.
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