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| - EU lawmakers have voted to lift the immunity of Greek MEP Ioannis Lagos, a former leader of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party sentenced to jail in his homeland, the European Parliament said Tuesday. Legislators overwhelmingly approved the move, with 658 backing it and only 25 opposed in a secret ballot held on Monday. A police source in Athens told AFP that Greek judicial authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for the 48-year-old. In a Twitter post Monday, Lagos voiced disdain for the decision and said he would remain "strong and free." "I am not going back to Greece in coming days," he said, without giving further detail. The European Parliament vote was held following a request from the Greek authorities after Lagos was handed a 13-year jail term along with other leaders of the far-right Golden Dawn party in October for charges including running a criminal organisation. The court ruling could not be immediately enforced in the case of Lagos, who had immunity because he was elected to the European parliament in 2019. The marathon trial of the Golden Dawn chiefs, including founder Nikos Michaloliakos, was seen as one of the most important in Greece's modern political history. The jail terms capped a stunning downfall for the leaders of a party which was the country's third most popular in 2015. The crackdown was sparked by the late-night murder of a 34-year-old anti-fascist rapper, Pavlos Fyssas, stabbed to death in front of a cafe in the western Athens suburb of Keratsini in September 2013. A former nightclub bouncer, Lagos was Golden Dawn's local commander in the area where Fyssas was murdered. "Nothing would have been done without approval from Lagos, there is no chance," the victim's mother Magda had told the court during the trial. Michaloliakos, and the majority of those found guilty are already behind bars, but Golden Dawn number two Christos Pappas is currently on the run. Greek media have reported that Pappas could be hiding under the guise of a monk somewhere in the Balkans. alm-jph/yad
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