Golden Dawn's object is the "overthrow of the democratic system" and it intended to do this by "entering parliament with tanks", a former member of the party has claimed in sworn testimony against the neonazi party.

The man is the fifth individual to deliver evidence to investigating magistrates investigating the neonazi party. Like all of the witnesses, he has requested protection from the authorities and cannot be named.

His testimony, deposited on Saturday amid heightened security, will now be used to proceed against a number of Golden Dawn MPs not charged last week.

The witness, who says he was active in Golden Dawn until recently, claimed that party members were put through an training programme which included, among others, slaughtering lambs "in order to learn the technique of stabbing the carotid [artery] with a knife".

This activity, he alleged, took place under the supervision of Nikos Michos, now a Golden Dawn MP for Evia, in sheep pens around Malakasa, in eastern Attica.

Arms training with shotguns also took place in a remote area in Palia Pentili, north of Athens.

He added that recruits were put through ideological training and brainwashing by being forced to buy copies of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, Josef Goebbels' diary and The Protocolls of the Elders of Zion, a notorious antisemitic forgery that claims a secret Jewish committee runs the world, to "learn who the enemy is: Jews, Zionists and the Communists".

The party's line, he said, was that "because Marx was a communist, Jews and communists are the same".

He also said that four future Golden Dawn MPs – Ilias Kasidiaris, Ilias Panagiotaros, Yiannis Lagos and Yiorgos Germenis – participated in an attack by Golden Dawn members on migrants in the old appeals court on Sokoratous street in central Athens in May 2009. The four and others fired improvised fireworks into the building, injuring those inside.

He also alleges that new recruits were encouraged to get a tattoo of the Totenkopf, the skull and crossbones motif used by the SS, and variations of the swastika.

The witness alleged further that every Saturday, members of his Golden Dawn cell met at party offices to report on the attacks on migrants, leftists, anarchists and drug addicts they had carried out that week.

The party used harsh measures to maintain discipline over members, he claimed: "Any deviation from the principles of organisation, or the wishes and orders of the leader and high-ranking members automatically resulted in harsh punishment, savage beatings and public humiliations. I was present at some of these unpleasant situations and know that in some cases, loud music was played so that we wouldn't hear the voices of those being beaten."

Summing up, the witness said he deeply regretted his involvement in the organisation.

"I'm very sorry because I did great disservice by engaging in this criminal organisation. I got carried away like many other people. Some got involved for their own benefit and out of the need that so many of us have to belong somewhere. I hope this investigation will lead to some real effects and eliminate the danger that is called Golden Dawn."

As judicial officials investigating criminal activities linked to Golden Dawn prepare to bring new charges against party officials and lawmakers, representatives of the country’s Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) are seeking to determine what sources of funding were available to the ultra-right party.

Apart from some 500,000 euros in state funding the party has received over the past year (and some 200 million euros from MPs’ salaries that went into the party’s coffers on the orders of leader Nikos Michaloliakos), GD is believed to have benefited from at least another 2 million euros from various sources, a source told Kathimerini. The cost of maintaining some 70 offices as well as financing the party’s “Greeks only” food distribution and blood donation campaigns is estimated at between 2 and 3 million euros, the source said. But determining which individuals or private firms contributed this cash is far from straightforward and an unprecedented task in the country’s post-dictatorship period, according to judicial officials who met with SDOE representatives last Friday.

Meanwhile Kathimerini has learned that the counter-terrorism agency and the National Intelligence Service (EYP) used some of the most sophisticated wiretaps available to listen in on conversations between members of Golden Dawn. Sources said the eavesdropping intensified after the murder of rapper Pavlos Fyssas by a GD supporter on September 17 with the phones of more than 300 GD officials tapped by the secret services.

Anonymous Leaks 3,700 Documents Stolen from the Greek Government and OSCE

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Enlarge picture - Thousands of documents leaked by hackers
Hackers of Anonymous have leaked over 3,700 documents allegedly stolen from the A3 Directorate for Southeastern European Countries of Greece’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The attack is part of an operation dubbed “OpGoldenDawn.”

“We all know how bad the situation in Greece today is, alongside the economic mayhem the government allowed Nazis from Golden Dawn to sabotage the integrity of entire country and European principles of freedom and moral,” the hackers said.

“Today we deliver first sucker punch in a series of jaw breaking leaks, to reveal the truth about the Greece government involvement in conspiracy to spy on us with the help of its ENISA and OSCE cybercrime units. Those responsible for arrests of our fellow lulz charged with OP Payback. 13 is a sacral number so we will deliver one punch to reach exactly that.”

The hacktivists urge their supporters to make copies of the classified, restricted, and confidential documents posted on cyberguerrilla.org to make sure they can’t be removed by “government cleaners.”

They claim more documents will be leaked in the future.