Ilias Kasidiaris and Yiannis Lagos, convicted as leaders of the Golden Dawn criminal organization, applied for a stay of execution of the sentence to the five-member Criminal Court of Appeal.

For the third time in court considering her case golden dawnYannis Lagos (who was absent from the courtroom today) and, for the first time since the start of the trial, Ilias Kasidiaris, who was transferred from prisons, asked the judges to release them.

Elias Kasidiaris was the first to make the request through his lawyer Vassos Pantazis, who emphasized that the defendant was sentenced to 13 years in prison, of which he served 10 years (three and a half, including the daily wage he received in Domokos prison).

The lawyer said that her client: “He has a clean criminal record, he did not even violate the Code of Criminal Procedure. He’s not a fugitive suspect, he’s not a danger to society at large. The first instance decision does not indicate why it does not give him suspensive effect on appeal, but contains a general reference which he sent along with others. The entire indictment is based on excerpts from specific speeches. The phrases were isolated and appeared in a context different from reality.”

The lawyer argued that the stay of Ilias Kasidiaris in Domokos prisons causes him irreparable harm. “He is the only Greek prisoner for whom there is an overturned decision of the General Anti-Crime Secretariat not to allow him any communication except through his lawyer. In global reality, this happened only in two states: in Turkey with a captured Kurd and in Ukraine with a captured Russian,” he said.

The defendant, who took the floor after his counsel, argued in support of his motion that the trial was being deliberately delayed so that he himself would remain in prison and could not campaign with his party, which he said opinion polls showed he was goes to parliament.

“I am serving a prison term for many years of active fight against corruption. Now what I was shouting about kickbacks is being confirmed in foreign countries from foreign systems. The judiciary here tolerates corruption,” said Ilias Kasidiaris. As in 2015, the once-powerful member of the Golden Dawn said he must “remain in jail” now.

“Why was I in jail in 2015? Because we had choices. I should still be in jail. All national parties in Europe form governments, in Greece they should not exist with a large percentage, for political expediency. We have direct interference in free elections. Significant irreparable damage will be done to the hundreds of Greek citizens who vote for my party. My party has 23 million views. Every speech I make from prison is heard by thousands of citizens… The criterion for being in prison is that I do not campaign,” said the applicant, who claimed that the intention of the government, which he said would be affected by his party’s call , “I’m going to the polls from Domoko’s phone.”

Yiannis Lagos, through his lawyer Ioannis Zografa, filed a motion to suspend the execution of his 13-year prison sentence. “Replacing Ilias Kasidiaris, as I wrote in the statement, I point out that the grounds for rejecting the previous request of Yannis Lagos were insufficient. Yannis Lagos’ imprisonment failed because he continues to declare himself a political prisoner. A privileged state does not take revenge on its captives. His stay in prison becomes irreparable damage,” Mr. Zografov stressed.

At the beginning of the trial, when Ilias Kasidiaris was brought into the courtroom, about 50 of his supporters greeted him with a standing ovation, for which the president reprimanded the police and witnesses. Ilias Kasidiaris appears in court for the second time since the start of the trial today.

The court adjourned for Monday morning.