The text message first appeared in a video posted November 9, 2021 on YouTube. He said that the audio recordings that follow are taken from records of telephone conversations between Ilias Kasidiaris and his lawyer. This particular video titled “isolation of unvaccinated people, precision wave, national defeats” has 128,000 views. It was one of many that will follow the same and unchanged pattern until today. From the Domokos prison, where he is serving his first term for leading a criminal organization, the former leader of the Golden Dawn is running his election campaign unhindered.

The question concerned the General Secretariat of Anti-Criminal Policy back in May 2021. At the end of October 2020, a few days after Ilias Kasidiaris was sentenced in the first instance to 13 years and 6 months in prison, the first video appeared with the message posted on his Domoko Prison YouTube channel. This is followed four days later by his first radio station telephone interview. In May 2021, his speech at a meeting of his newly created Hellenes for the Motherland party is again heard over the telephone. The prisoner talks about the “House of Fraudsters” and appears as a victim and target of the “system”. He repeats similar positions in his other relevant speeches. In some YouTube videos, he encourages viewers to buy his books to financially support his campaign.

His YouTube channel has 122,000 subscribers and his Twitter account has 35,000. He still maintains a channel on the Viber app as well as on Telegram. Posts made by his associates outside the prison. Facebook blocked its official page in 2013 for inappropriate content, hate speech and symbols. What are the relevant provisions for prisoners to communicate and what is happening with the Casidiaris case?

Initially, it was assumed that his communication was carried out on a mobile phone, which is prohibited, but this was not confirmed. According to K’s information, no devices were found in Kasidiaris’s cell during regular checks carried out in the cell where Kasidiaris is being held. It is reported that one of the last checks took place a few days ago.

On May 26, 2021, the then General Secretary of the Anti-Crime Directorate Sofia Nicolaou, in a letter to the prosecutor’s office, demanded an investigation and a criminal assessment of the activities of Ilias Kasidiaris, since “he allegedly participates and leads a group meeting.” as a center speaker. This was followed on October 7, 2021, by her recommendation to the Domoko Prison Board for an appropriate disciplinary review.

In every post or interview he has made to this day, it has been clarified, in writing or verbally, that what is being heard is due to communication with his lawyers.

The prison council met on the same day. Its three members took into account, inter alia, Article 53 of the Criminal Code, Article 22 of the Internal Regulations of Places of Detention, as well as the contact numbers provided by Kasidiaris. In their decision, they indicated that he had the opportunity to communicate with lawyers and relatives up to the fourth degree of kinship with the aim of “his peaceful life in the store and faster adaptation to public life”. At the same time, they noted that if any violations are detected (conversations not related to personal and family issues) or if this falls into the field of view of the service or it turns out that he is communicating with other persons, “communication will be immediately stopped, the director of the prison will be informed and a disciplinary review will follow.” Several days of silence followed, until a 17-minute video was uploaded to the channel on 10/24/2021. First, the voice of one of his lawyers is heard asking permission to record their conversation. “Of course you have my permission and I really want this material to be legal to use,” he says. From then on, in every post or interview he made until today, it is explained, in writing or orally, that what is heard is due to communication with his advocates.

According to descriptions made in “K” in the Domoku prisons, the cell where Kasidiaris is being held has a common area with two working payphones on the ground floor and another with the same number of devices on the ground floor. In total, four devices correspond to approximately 40 prisoners. The relevant regulations do not specify how many calls they will make and how long they will talk. Prison officials who spoke to “K” explain that it is not practical in practice for anyone in the call area to monitor the numbers a prisoner is calling, or even the content of conversations.

Corrections’ internal rules, also referred to by the prison board, state that prohibited items inside cells include mobile phones, microcomputers and electronic diaries. It is also forbidden for a prisoner to have phone cards worth more than 25 euros in the cell, otherwise they will be confiscated and a disciplinary check will be carried out. In accordance with the same provision, prisoners may only communicate by telephone with persons who have received permission to visit. Among these people are their lawyers, as well as relatives up to the fourth degree of kinship. Communication is carried out by payphones located in the wings and at open booths.

In October 2022, Law No. 4985 on the reform and modernization of the Criminal Code was adopted. Among other things, it provides that telephone communication between prisoners is carried out using a device located in a common, visually controlled area of ​​the store. It is also provided that, by decision of the prison council, more specific conditions for communication with pay phones, as well as cases of communication with persons who do not have the right to visit, are determined. According to the relevant law, the prison board may restrict a prisoner’s communication “when there is a serious risk of disturbing the orderly and safe operation of the prison, respecting the principle of proportionality”.

YouTube account

In 2013, there was an attempt to collect signatures on the network asking to block the profiles of the golden-eyed deputies on YouTube after their detention.

In a related announcement posted by this initiative, they indicated that Facebook had already taken similar action.
“We are deeply concerned that YouTube shows no signs of appropriate sensitivity, despite the fact that it has been inundated with pro-Nazi, racist and ultra-nationalist messages: it is inconceivable that they would not come to the attention of those responsible for the site,” they wrote then in the text of the protest.

In a June 2022 video, Elias Kasidiaris claimed that Facebook and Instagram permanently banned him and claimed that YouTube had placed a “shadow ban” on his channel “so that new members don’t get notified” with notifications as soon as a new post is made. Every now and then, he himself, in videos of his recorded statements, encourages viewers to post and register as new members.
“K” sent questions to YouTube about the current status of Ilias Kasidiaris’s channel to find out how his messages are spreading, and also why his channel remains active in contrast to the blocking decisions that have been made on other social networks. A spokesperson for the platform said they are looking into the issue and are awaiting responses to these questions.