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Greek Government Bans International "Nazi Olympics" Following Wiesenthal Centre's Protest - Centre Alert Maintained Pending Implementation of Ban.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Affairs, Dr. Shimon Samuels, welcomed yesterday's statement by Greek Minister of Public

Order, Mr. Voulgarakis, announcing the prohibition of the neo-Nazi "First Pan-European Hate-Fest" scheduled for 16-18 September in the Peloponnese.

The announcement followed Samuels' letter of 2 September 2005 to Prime Minister Karamanlis, warning that this event violated Greek commitments to

anti-racist provisions of the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the OSCE.

Samuels today noted, "Despite the announcement, the 'Hate-Fest' organizer, Greek extreme right Chryssi Avghi (Golden Dawn), has reacted with a plan to shift the date and location to an island near Athens."

The Centre emphasized that it will continue to monitor the situation, and to maintain its alert pending measures by the Greek authorities to implement the promised ban on these "Nazi Olympics".

For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33 6 09 77 01 58