Former Golden Dawn candidate remanded in custody

Themis Skordeli, a former parliamentary candidate with the neofascist Golden Dawn party, was remanded in pretrial custody on Friday following her testimony on charges of belonging to a criminal organization. Skordeli, 50, denied the accusations and being a member of the party.

In a related development, Parliament on Friday took disciplinary action against Golden Dawn deputy Eleni Zaroulia for calling Justice Minister Haralamabos Athanasiou a “lout” following his response to a question about furloughs to prison inmates.

Zaroulia, who is the wife of jailed party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, was ordered to pay a 1,426 euro fine, a quarter of her monthly salary.

Christos Markoyiannakis, who was presiding over the debate in the House, called for the measure to be taken against Zaroulia after the latter hurled verbal abuse at Athanasiou, having suggested earlier that the minister had “no shame.”