golden dawn still has its supporters. they say a correct government is persecuting their party to draw attention away from its own failings. later in the day, four of golden dawn's most senior figures were also brought to court. here come the golden dawn members of parliament. they have been behind bars for three days. during that time, they have beenvil villified as neo nazi s. >> reporter: can this be a fair trial? or will it, in fact, be a witch hunt? >> i am sure they will get a fair trial, and the judges today, they are very, very specific in what they are searching. they are fair persons >> reporter: there was a heavy police presence around court. but some of those arrested are, themselves, policemen. and several senior police officers have been suspended because of suspected links to golden dawn, all suggesting that a movement that grew out of greece's economic crisis cannot be easily crushed, no matter how these trials proceed. >> barnaby, what more do we know then about the government's case against golden dawn a

so what is golden dawn? the group officially known as the popular association, golden dawn was formed in 1980, but registered as a political party in 1993. it's extreme right wing agenda is built on a strong anti-immigrant rhetoric. they get 7% of the votes in the 2012 elections. that means they got 18 seats in the 300 strong parliament. well, our correspondent is in athens and we can join him now. at exactly, mark, have these politicians actually accused of? >> sorry george, it's a slightly bad line, can you repeat that? >> these politicians that appeared in court today, they're not in court related to this murder that i just spoke of? >> the police, george, say there is a direct link they have established between the man who killed him a fort night ago and the highest eschelons of the golden dawn party. wiretap records have shown that there was direct communication between the man who wielded the knife and some senior m.p.'s which the police and government say have provided them with the government to clas

the crackdown on greek and neo- nazi political party golden dawn goes all the way to the top. the founder and head of the group will be held in a high- security prison leading up to his trial on charges of running a criminal organization. a third day of government shutdown in the u.s. civil servants forced onto unpaid leave take to the streets to protest. you are watching "france 24." it was a boat filled with migrants trying to reach an better life, but the ship caught fire and capsized, leaving over 80 dead with 200 missing. passengers on board are thought to be coming from libya. rescue operations are underway off the coast of the italian island of lampedusa, where the boat went down. our correspondent has the latest. >> it is a massive tragedy with hundreds of migrants on the boat sinking off the coast of the island of lampedusa in italy. what we know so far is that the mayor has said at least 80 people have been killed. but officials warn the death toll could actually go up. the mayor described the situation, saying that the immigrants tried to call for help, but their ph

the golden dawn faithful remain defiant. they said they are proud nationalists, victim of a political witchhunt. the party has taken a huge hit in the past fortnight, but it still has a significant support base. three of the mp's have been freed on bail. the response from one was on repentance -- was unrepentance. the government now believes it can crush golden dawn, but is growing its ideology will be far harder. >> over the past few months, there has been much to cushion -- much discussion of foreign fighters who have gone to act in the syrian conflict. the common perception is that they are nearly all young, muslim men. last month, the death of a man from northern israel jew attention to the fact that arab israelis are also fighting with the rebels. >> heavily armed opposition fighters on the outskirts of damascus. verifyot independently this footage, but they are said to be members of the nusra fron t, which is linked to al qaeda. many have been killed in recent clashes with the syrian army. it all seems a long way from

to show my support for the golden dawn. it's unfair of the government to have all these charges and it will backfire we demand because at the moment we don't have the golden dawn will continue and it will remain strong argues the ideology not its people while you have to remember that despite all these events golden dawn still remains the third biggest political party in greece is has eighteen elected m.p.'s and getting rid of them will not be easy it is against the law to ban any political party here in greece and even if you did put the politicians in jail they would still remain and pays what's more golden dawn is now threatening to remove all of its politicians from parliament and that were triggered by elections perhaps destabilize an already fragile coalition and in turn could jeopardize greece's chances of securing more european bailout money with the country already waiting to hear if it will receive the latest try and shift a u.i. meth money worth one billion euros and farmer for athens. and later in the program by

the golden dawn faithful remain defiant. they said they are proud nationalists, victim of a political witchhunt. the party has taken a huge hit in the past fortnight, but it still has a significant support base. three of the mp's have been freed on bail. the response from one was on repentance -- was unrepentance. the government now believes it can crush golden dawn, but is growing its ideology will be far harder. >> over the past few months, there has been much to cushion -- much discussion of foreign fighters who have gone to act in the syrian conflict. the common perception is that they are nearly all young, muslim men. last month, the death of a man from northern israel jew attention to the fact that arab israelis are also fighting with the rebels. >> heavily armed opposition fighters on the outskirts of damascus. verifyot independently this footage, but they are said to be members of the nusra fron t, which is linked to al qaeda. many have been killed in recent clashes with the syrian army. it all seems a long way from

. >>> the sunsets on golden dawn. the greek parliament cuts off funding to the controversial party. >>> in sport, a night of surprises in the european champions league. we've have all the details for you a little later in the program. >>> the united states says that drone strikes are lawful, and it denies targeting civilians in pakistan and yemen. amnesty international and human rights watch say innocent people have been killed, and that the illegal strikes should be investigated as possible war crimes. jz's alan fisher reports now from washington. >> reporter: this isn't the first time that the united states has been criticized for the drone program, but the administratiad admission firmly believes it protects americans. it says the drone program is highly successful at targeting high members of al qaeda and the taliban. they also say that everything think do is sufrjt to scrutiny in congress and also within international law. >> i think it's important to note that by narrowly targeting our action against those who w

to the murder of an antiracism rap musician allegedly by a backer of golden dawn. other golden dawn lawmakers have been indicted for belonging to a criminal organization and in a surprise move three of them are freed pending the trial. >> back on the streets as belligerent as ever. "we will eat your fake witnesses for breakfast, we will beat them all for breakfast. from the neo-nazi greek party he was among three lawmakers forbidden to leave the country on monday morning. they were all indicted earlier on wednesday in the charge of belonging to a criminal organization. 26 associates were arrested over the weekend as part of a crackdown on the party. golden dawn was created as a popular party until -- until this stabbing, forcing greek authorities to act. alongside the arrest magistrates compiled dossiers including the various crimes linked to the group, including an attack on immigrants, one of which was fatal. the parliament is outlining a bill that would target the golden dawn, outlawing racist hate speech. also due in front of the magistrate on wednesday afterno

they are doing itfull it anywayt a lid on golden dawn activity. >> golden zaun i dawn is tryingn it againstir deniers the law alowseallows them to claim 14%. golden dawn's share was 2 million the party says it's too much in the current economic climate. a drop in party funding is the last thing the socialist and be the conservatives in government want. they owe banks $350 million need to preserve their state financing. if golden dawn's gambit pays off their punishment school board cs as well. >> at the rate it's going on, what have they been saying? >> well the debate has been focusing on this resolution and 331 others that are riding on this unnewable energy bill. >> it under scores the scarcity of parliamen parliamentary debae days. there are only a few sessions in any given year and the prime minister has appeared a half dozen times since he was leftedd last year. that is one aspect of tonight's debate. the other is there is going to be overwhelming support for this resolution listening to the m.p.'s talking about their party positions tonight, i think the government should gather about

, but as john reports, now golden dawn has vowed to fight on. >> reporter: the government lost no timehing in on the popularity of the resolution. it says, parliament may suspends public funds to go parties if their leaders aura 10th of of their p.m.s are invite today for organized crime or terrorism. the government piled on 32 riders including a sal the of approval for its closure of public television last june. mistrust of left dawn, leftists socialists behind it all. but there was also criticism that the government didn't seek greater transparency and accountability for how all parties spend their money. >> it's absurd for taxpayers to support the party the justice system says is engaged in criminal acts that's what happening with gold be dane, this prosecution han has been long overdue and tolerate today for years. >> reporter: gold be dawn's leader and another five m.p.s are accused of running a criminal organization that ordered willings and beatings. mostly of migrants over the last two years. the prosecution got underway when a man claiming to be a golden dawn supporter murdere

what is the case against golden dawn and what is likely to be their defense?well, it's coming through in drips and drafts. the golden dawn leaders will be accused of being in charge of a criminal organization. there may be specific charges that relate to murder, assault, money laundering. illegal possession of weapons. the state is building its case. it's interesting that the greek police have leaked photos, and this whole process has been conducted very publicly, photos which were taken inside the houses, when they searched the houses of golden dawn leaders, when they showed pictures of the italian fascist leaders and also weapons. as for golden dawn, it could be summed up as we are being persecuted by a corrupt government that is trying to distract the greek people. that is probably what they are be inside court as well. >> is there likely to be any truth in that, after all golden dawn, like it or not, is greece's third most popular party? or at least it was. it might have taken a hit because of the murder of the rapper, but nevertheless 17, 18 seats in parl

later in the day, all of golden dawn's most senior figures were also brought to court.ere come the golden dawn members of parliament. they've been behind bars for over three days. during that time they've been vilified as neo-nazis. now they have the chance to put their side of the story in court. >> but can this be a fair while or will it, in fact, be a witch-hunt? >> i'm sure they get a fair trial, and the judges today, they are very, very specific in what they're sensing. they're very fair. >> with heavy police presence around court. but some of those arrested, and several senior officers have been suspended because of suspected links to golden dawn. all suggesting a movement that grew out of economic crisis cannot be easily crushed no matter how these trials proceed. al jazeera, athens. >> youth unemployment in italy has reached an all-time high of more than 40%. the over all job figure stands around 12% and third largest economy is renewed by new political chaos. we have reports from italy's financial capital milan. >> rising unemployment, and tough challenges faci

this comes after six lawmakers from the extreme white ring -- right wing golden dawn party. a fatal seven last month at a greek rapper. golden dawn lawmakers broke out -- walked out before the vote, was shot near unanimous approval cleared mark edwards has the details. >> overwhelmingly passed, 247 debbie's at the greek parliament were in unity from the far right golden dawn party. legislators can be tried on various charges, including involvement in a criminal gang. greece opened a criminal investigation following a killing of a left-wing rapper. they charge the openly racist party with a string of murders and assaults as well as racketeering. in most business only parliament can let their community if they are suspected of terminal activity. >> -- of criminal activity. >> when you have committed crimes, even if you are among parliament, you have to go -- and the greek justice system works. that is what it is all about. >> golden dawn is greece's third most popular party and they deny any wrongdoing and they are accusing the government of a witchhunt against the party. in a

this comes one day after for golden dawn mps denied the charges against them.three were freed pending trial, and one remains in custody. >> back on the streets and as belligerent as ever -- >> we will eat your witnesses for breakfast. we will eat them offer breakfast. you will see. all the charges will be dismissed. >> one was among three lawmakers released from custody on wednesday morning but forbidden to leave the country. a fourth will stay in prison pending trial. the courts indicted them earlier on wednesday on charges of belonging to a criminal organization. they are among 22 associates arrested over the weekend as part of a crackdown on the party following the murder of a greek anti-fascist musician in september. golden dawn was greece's third most popular political party until the stabbing. alongside the arrests, magistrates compiled a dossier detailing the various alleged crimes linked to the group, including a tax on immigrants, -- attacks on immigrants. harlan and is debating a new rule that would -- parliament is debating a new rule that would outl

christop papov is the strategsts of golden dawn. it's changed the political situation here overnight. police say they found weapons in his villa and some photos of adolph hitler. and here is the prosecution report. seven pages, 32 charges and one chilling word. the fuehrer princep, the which golden dawn followed to the letter. golden dawn won 7% in the last greek election. violence against migrants but free food for greeks. meanwhile the police seemed unwilling to react. but when this man, pavlos fisas, an antifascist rapper, was murdered, police came to organized criminal gang. the greek parliament today moved to cut off golden dawn's state subsidy. and it's been a lesson learned. >> violence in greece is over. we don't care who makes the action, but the law will rule, and whoever is violent, he will face the law. >> tonight three police officers have been assigned as close protection to golden dawn mps was suspended for illegally possessing >> ifill: the rise of golden dawn has tracked greece's descent into financial crisis in rec

they are doing it now anyway on golden dawn.arties are allowed to accept private donations, but the lion's share of their revenue comes from state funding. this year they got $95 million, golden dawn's share was just over $2 million. and the party says that is far too much. it says it wants the state funding reduced by 80%. a drop in party funding is the last thing the socialists and conservatives want, they owe money and need to pay their financing. >>> a deadline is looming in the attempt to block a patent for a couple seeking ivf treatment. it comes at a price. many biologist believe it is wrong to try to patent something that is a natural process. emma reports. >> reporter: jasmine is the life of her parents life. at two and a half she is into everything. but her arrival into the world wasn't easy. as jasmine's parents needed ivf to get her. >> i just knew whether it would be an easy procedure or difficult procedure, we could go through it no matter what, because at the end of the day we wanted a child together. >> reporter:

. >>> in greece the deputy leader of the far right golden dawn party is in court. he faces the possibility of being remanded in custody. earlier a court ordered party leader nikolaos mihaloliakos to remain in prison pending his trial. they're both accused of running a criminal organization. the government's crackdown came after a national outcry over the murder of an anti-facist rapper. john reports from athens. >> reporter: the court did not explain the surprise decision to release three of golden dawn's members of parliament, but political sensitivities may have played into it. authorities are keen to demonstrate a judicial process very much played by the book unhitched to any political agenda. the mps are accused of being at the top of a criminal organization lurking in the shadow of the political process. across the street from the court, hundreds of their supporters chanted honor golden dawn, and party deputies gathered to witness the arrival of leader nikolaos mihaloliakos, who came under heavy armed guard. this was the moment of humiliation for golden dawn,

a golden dawn supporter confessed to the killing but the party denies any involvement.n is live for us from athens, he's been following the story from outside the court. john, what more do we know? >> reporter: at the moment, we know that the party leader will join his deputy and also a local party boss in prison. the three of them could be remanded for up to 18 months before trial according to greek law. the reason these three have been kept in prison is that they are connected to the killing two weeks ago of the left wing hip hop artist who was stabbed in the chest twice by the golden dawn supporter that you mentioned who is now, of course, also in prison. there is a network, a web of phone calls between the three men, which police believe are connected to that event. and so they are deemed to be very highly sensitive suspect in this case. also at this hour, appearing in court is the deputy party leader, he will be deposed before the court of first instance and at the end of that process, we will know if he, too, will be remanded in custody. >> all right, john, thanks

athens, john, the golden dawn leader is still in court, i gather. what has been happening? >> reporter: that's right, now defending himself against charges that he created and leads a criminal organization. the best possible description of those charges is in the prosecutor's indictment which provides a description of how golden dawn operates with the series of local chapters, each run by a closed five-member committee which takes it's orders from the local m.p. and the local m.p. take their orders from the leadership of the party in downtown athens. that means each cell, the prosecutor says, operates different departments. one may be adding out aid or activities, recruiting minors. but the most controversial is what the prosecutor refers to as assault battalions. groups of people with military training or special forces training, some of them retired from the military who receive orders to commit acts of violence. always in a controlled fashion condoned by the party leadership, according to the prosecutor. those are the charges now that they are ad

vaxovanes cites the arrest of six golden dawn mps. he said up to a few days before that happened, media were talking about golden dawn as just another party. as soon as the government changed its view of golden dawn so did the mainstream media and now they are decrying them as nazis and fa fascists. >> john seropolos in athens. thanks john. >>> an inquiry is ordered into sunday's violent street protests. and israeli police say it was the largest funeral procession, hundreds of thousands turn out to mourn a spiritual leader and a political cause. [[voiceover]] when people need to be heard, stories need to be told, al jazeera is there. >> hello again, i'm fuli batibol with the main stories on al jazeera. since 1996, we've told the human story. from the ground up. >> this is an unsafe place to be. >> with a new point of view. >>this river is their road to freedom. [[voiceover]] committed, inspired, bold. >>we're on the frontline, but it's under attack. al jazeera media network, the global, award-winning news organization. >> welcome back

. >>> the leader of greece's far right golden dawn party is jailed as his second in command appears in court. >>> blackhawk down 20 years on. we look at how a falled u.s. mission in somalia still affects washington's thinking. >>> we start with news that a boat sunk off the coast of italy. at least 60 people have been killed and 250 are still missing. the vessel went down about half a mile from lampedusa. it's thought to have carried illegal migrants. what more do we know, sonya? >> reporter: we know the latest figure that has just come out. we hear that at least 80 have been found dead and still 250 missing. from the sea rescue workers are describing scening of horror with bodies being found in the sea. this is an enormous death toll for this boat. now, they described how many of these people have been in the water since the early hours of the morning, and emergency workers have been really racing against time to try and rescue as many of the survivors as you can see. what apparently had happened was that there were approximately 500 people on board a boat that was carrying subsaharan

this prosecution has been long over due. >> reporter: golden dawn's leader and another five mp's are d of running an organization that is accused of beatings. a golden down supporter murdered a greek musician last month. it's designed to starve a political force, government and opposition see as a threat to democracy. but one of the indicted mp's and the party's candidate to be mayor next year predicts it will keep going. >> translator: we can keep going. parties get a lot of money, we were quite shocked when we saw how much is spent parlry parties.creators. the lion's share of greek parties comes from state revenues. this year they got $95 million. golden dawn's share was just over $2 million, and the party says that's far too much in the current economic climate. it wants the state funding reduced by could become theres as well. >>> sudan's president is in south sudan for talks on the contested [ inaudible ] region. he'll be meeting with his southern counterpart to try to strike a deal. trade and security are among the other issues also on the agenda. >>> in mozambique, a former reb

wow yeah now that was an actual golden dawn spokesman sumac in to the left wing female female on youreputies that's just bonkers to me but aside from social unrest in greece there's also unrest in the eurozone and i spoke with many sellers about the recent reelection of german chancellor angela merkel. well she obviously has kind of been portrayed as the proverbial puppet cheer behind these austerity measures that greece has suffered she's obviously been reelected third term how do you feel about this and what do you think it means for greece first before. i must express my relationship to chancellor of american forces. and that's going to victory. not only greece but the eurozone needs a new german government capable to understand that. society but we need a european gentlemen in three months a gentleman you could see something very very important. now we have some pictures here that i want to bring up for you this is of a greek protesters burning the german flag and telling merkel to get out now it's important to know these were over a year ago there you're all of these photos but o

the group formally known as golden dawn registered as a political party in 1993. 18 seats were given in the 300 strong greek parliament. an expert on far right groups and for being with us. something like 400,000 people voted. this is not just some offshoot that you can ignore? >> we can see that supporters came with even one million citizens, even after the murder, indicating that the golden dawn remained the third strongest party. it is a huge problem. that is where all of these voters go. >> who are these millions of people who are willing to say that they support what they have described as the new not to party. looking at some of the , increasingly women ,ave tended to talk to them supporting the unemployed and private sector employees. more and more of them were supporting the golden pron. >> this is not the disgruntled group of people losing out on economic reforms? >> it has created a strong sense of a protest vote, but there are other crisis ridden countries in looking at portugal and , they have the discontent of voters in that phenomenon. >> in your view, how important is

now just several days before that very interview greece's far right golden dawn party which is describeds a neo nazi group was implicated in the killing of a prominent left wing artist known for his anti-fascist views and after six years of recession and with youth unemployment at sixty percent greece has undergone a serious radicalization of its political landscape then he sells himself is calling this the last generation in greece. something absolutely unacceptable because. maine so she and your could be used to avoid life and momentum of the most generation. a sixty percent. younger generation. is something. acceptable not only for greece but the show for the european community for the good for your group. of democracy. and social cohesion you. know that is the us is a member of the center right new democracy party in greece which has been criticised for a soft pedaling the threats posed by golden dawn in an effort to lure back some of their traditional voting base but if social cohesion is your goal you definitely want to avoid stuff like this on daytime television check this out. th

three weeks ago, most of the golden dawn's top leaders were arrested.hey face charges of running a criminal organization, murder, money laundering, and blackmail. he says the arrests are long overdue. the organization has been trying to draw attention to racist violence in greece for years. politicians and the media have been ignoring the problem. >> this balloon of cover-up has been broken. but this does not necessarily mean the whole greek society is willing to see the truth. there are many problems remaining. everyday life, still people do not consider it important the way immigrants from pakistan are attacked. we have a long way to go. we have racism in greek society. we have had it in the past. it came up with the financial crisis and is still there. >> for the group, the crisis is an opportunity. it is a chance to break up the old boy network, the old way of doing things. for these young dancers, the way forward is clear. greece needs to become more open and tolerant and start welcoming immigrants and cultural diversity as a positive benefit. >> i

. >> the government has characterized the golden dawn party as a neo-nazi gang. >> the fifth member,the party leader, was brought to court by anti-terror police on wednesday evening. he is also testifying on charges related to the murder of an anti-fascist wrapper by a party sympathizer last month. golden dawn was the country's third most popular party until the murder sparked nationwide protests. >> germany needs to spend more money on its infrastructure, especially its road network. that message has been coming from economists who worry that low investment could hamper germany's long-term economic output. >> political parties tend to agree, but not on where the money should come from. the opposition social democrats want to hike and income tax, while angela merkel's allies have called for a told on the foreign cars using german roads -- a toll on the foreign cars using german roads, which has proven controversial. >> this bridge was one of the first crossing points that led east berliners into west berlin. today it needs repairs, as do half the bridges in germany. the bavarian sist

, golden dawn is a disgrace for greece. >>> influential u.s. investor john paulson he prays what -- praises what he calls greece's government, return to growth next year. greece of course has been crippled by six years of recession, received $325 billion worth of international bailouts which led to its government agreeing to deep spending cuts. greece is also optimistic that being able to return to financial markets after being secluded in 2010. >> the citizens have made enormous sacrifices both in terms of fiscal adjustment and in terms of living standards. however beginning this year these sacrifices begin to take hold with the first indication of greece's exit from the crisis becoming evident. the greek economy is projected to emerge from its prolonged recession and the gdp will mark a positive growth rate of .6%, primarily due to the recovery of investments and the strengthening of exports. >> doing business in the greek economy can be tough. al jazeera's john siropis reports. >> first and most important type of defense, alert squadrons of

the measure targets golden door and -- golden dawn. in may,er, shown here and two and p's are currently in custody awaiting trial on charges of being part of a criminal organization. there are rest of follow the murder of an anti-fascist musician by a man who says he is one of their supporters. but the far right parties strongly denies any links to the accused. mp'sarliament, golden dawn condemned the move to freeze their funding. is a legalawn political party. the suspension of the funding in essence suspends our constitution and system of government. you are suspending our public funding but you cannot thought -- stop our legal and political struggle. the controversial party has a strong anti-austerity and anti- immigrant agenda. it has been accused of perpetuating attacks on migrants and political opponents. it denies being a neo-nazi movement, despite its short because s --wastika-like emblem. >> the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is meeting the italian prime minister enrico letta in rome. forletta is expected to ask an explana