Greek far-right party is criminal group: court

A far-right political party that was once the third largest political force in Greece has been declared a criminal organization in that country.

A Greek court's declaration on Wednesday effectively bans the party, known as "Golden Dawn".

Thousands who gathered outside the Athens appeals court cheered at the verdict.

But the mood on the streets turned sour when isolated groups of hooded youths threw Molotov cocktails at police, who responded with tear gas and water cannon.

Golden Dawn rose from obscurity with xenophobic rhetoric at the height of Greece's debilitating debt crisis.

But it started to unravel in September 2013, when a party supporter was arrested for the killing of Pavlos Fyssas, a rapper aligned to the political left.

That sparked parallel court inquiries into the killing -- now declared a murder -- and whether party leadership were running a criminal group.

This is Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis:

"With today's decision by the three-member Criminal Court of Appeals on the actions of Golden Dawn, a traumatic cycle in the public life of the country comes to a close. Its political dimension has, fortunately, been judged by the victory of the republic, which expelled the Nazi formation from parliament. Now, the independent judiciary gave its own answer."

Dozens of others on trial face charges including attacks on immigrants and left-wing activists.

The mother of the deceased rapper, who has not missed a day since the trial started, burst into tears when the ruling was made.

She told supporters outside the court that they have quote "won the battle".

Golden Dawn has faded in popularity even through Europe's immigration crisis, and failed to win a single seat in last year's Greek parliament election.

Prosecutors had charged 65 people, including former lawmakers, with being members of a criminal group.

The party said it was the victim of a political witch-hunt.