Former Golden Dawn MP found guilty of treasonous acts but spared punishment
An Athens court on Thursday found former Golden Dawn MP Konstantinos Barbarousis guilty of “actions preparatory to treason” for inflammatory remarks made in the Greek Parliament in 2018. However, the court ruled he will not face prison time, citing the fact that he did not act on his statements and later retracted them.
The ruling stems from a dramatic intervention by Barbarousis during a no-confidence vote in June 2018, when he called on the military to arrest the prime minister, president, and defense minister to stop the signing of the Prespes Agreement—a landmark UN-mediated deal that resolved the decades-long name dispute between Greece and what is now North Macedonia.
“Your heads in Prespes,” Barbarousis had declared in Parliament, referring to the lakeside region where the accord was due to be signed.
The explosive statement triggered a swift political backlash and legal proceedings, given its perceived incitement to a coup d’état. However, Barbarousis later apologized, telling the court his words were a “rhetorical mistake” made in the “heat of the moment.”
No Sentence Imposed
Despite the guilty verdict, the court recognized that Barbarousis did not pursue any action beyond the speech and ultimately retracted his call. As such, he was not sentenced to any punishment.
Barbarousis, who was elected with the now-defunct far-right Golden Dawn party, had already drawn scrutiny during his term for extremist rhetoric and affiliations. Golden Dawn was officially declared a criminal organization in a historic 2020 court decision, leading to the conviction of its top leadership.
This latest verdict adds to the long list of legal consequences faced by former Golden Dawn figures, though some, like Barbarousis, continue to benefit from legal leniency based on context and retractions.
