A wave of emotion swept through the Athens Court of Appeals on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, as Magda Fyssa — mother of murdered anti-fascist activist Paulo Fyssa — stood outside the courthouse following the final conviction of the leadership of the neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn. The group was formally declared a criminal organization by Greece’s highest criminal court, and its top figures were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
“Paulo, you defeated them”
With tears streaming down her face, Fyssa declared: “Paulo, we won. Paulo, you defeated them. I’m taking my Paulo and I’m leaving.” Her words captured years of relentless advocacy for justice after her son was fatally stabbed in 2013 by Golden Dawn member Giorgos Roupakias — an attack widely seen as politically motivated and emblematic of the group’s violent ideology.
Final sentences confirmed
The appellate court upheld the first-instance verdicts, sentencing Golden Dawn’s top leadership to 13 years in prison each: Nikolaos Michaloliakos (founder), Ilias Kasidiaris, Yiannis Lagos, Christos Pappas, Giorgos Germenis, and Ilias Panagiotaros. Also imprisoned was Elena Zaroulia, Michaloliakos’ wife, who received a five-year sentence for membership in a criminal organization.
After the ruling, Fyssa emerged from the courtroom in tears — not of sorrow, but of vindication and relief. She embraced her legal team and held up a handwritten note reading: “Paulo, we did it! Golden Dawn officially ruled a criminal, fascist organization! You shamed them!”
Outside the courthouse, supporters chanted, “Paulo lives — crush the Nazis!”
Other sentences included:
Leadership roles:
Artemis Matthaiopoulos: 10 years
Former MPs convicted for joining the criminal organization:
Nikos Michos, Eustathios Boukouras, Michalis Arvanitis, Antonis Gregos: 5 years each
Panagiotis Eliopoulos: 7 years
Elena Zaroulia: 5 years
Polivios Zisimopoulos, Konstantinos Barbarousis: 6 years each
Nikos Kouzelos, Nikos Koutsozis: 7 and 5 years respectively
Chrysobalantis Alexopoulos: 5 years
Murder of Paulo Fyssa:
Giorgos Roupakias: life imprisonment plus 10 years
Ilias Kazantzoglou, Giorgos Patelis: 10 years each
Ilias Aggos: 9 years
Andreas Anadiotis, Giorgos Dimou, Evangelos Kalaritis, Ioannis V. Komianos, Konstantinos Korkovilis, Athanasios Michalaros, Giorgos Skalkos, Giorgos Stampeles, Lampros Tsalikis, Nikolaos Tsovras: 7–9 years
Attack on Egyptian fishermen (2012):
Anastasios Pantazis: 10 years
Dimitris Agrigiannakis: 7 years
Marios Evgenikos, Theodoros Maria, Konstantinos Papadopoulos: 6–7 years
Membership in criminal organization:
Aristeidis Daskalakis, Nikolaos Apostolou, Christos Chatzidakis, Vasiliki Popori: 4–7 years