ATHENS – Lawyers for neo-Nazi Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos and a former lawmaker for the party, Nikos Michos went at each other during the trial of the party’s hierachy and dozens of members on charges of running a criminal gang, now in its fourth year.

Michos ripped the party’s financial management sand said Michaloliakos went easy on members after the 2013 murder of anti-Fascist hip-hop artist Pavlos Fyssas, for which one of its members, Giorgos Roupakias, is on trial at the same time.

Accusing each other of being “ridiculous” and “two-bit fascists,” the lawyers clashed when Michos started explaining that his ideological differences with Michaloliakos are slight, suggesting that this was not the reason why he left the party in 2017, said Kathimerini in a report.

That led judges to call a recess, but tension was still high when proceedings resumed with Michos said he was on the island of Evia the night Fyssas was stabbed in the heart outside a cafe in Piraeus and was notified  of an “incident involving some Roupakias guy, who I didn’t know,.”

“It was a complete mess that night… It was disgusting. No matter how much of a political rival someone is, you don’t do that kind of thing. We condemned it… We were going crazy because the party was on the rise and something like this would be blow. It was major. It cost us,” said Michos, adding that any party members involved in the incident should be convicted to life in prison.

He contradicted that of Michaloliakos’ wife, Eleni Zaroulia, who had told the court earlier this week that they only found out about the murder the day after although it was all over the news in Greece as the top story.

“I spoke to everyone that night… I remember speaking to (Yiannis) Lagos… If I remember correctly, he told me he’d spoken with Michaloliakos,” said Michos.

Talking about his reasons for leaving the party, Michos also said that he was suspicious of its financial management. “Another thing that bothered me was where the money from membership fees and other sources was going,” he said.