UPD: The government General Secre Panagiotis Baltakos has resigned following the uproar over the video. In written statement he maintained that 'Everything that was said by me was with the intention of putting an end to the pressure exerted on me by Golden Dawn MPs who accused me of participating in a conspiracy against them.”
“Due to the commotion that was created and for reasons of personal sensitivity I have submitted my resignation.”
Meanwhile there are reports that Mr Baltakos's son, Takis flew into a rage over the video, and stormed to the parliamentary offices of Golden Dawn where, livid with rage he cursed and lashed out ar Golden Dawn MPs, catching several with kicks and punches.
See here for detailed reactions to the explosive video
Mr Baltakos can be seen in the video responding frankly to questions by Ilias Kasidiaris about the moves to press charges against the group. He appears to imply that Mr Samaras sought the prosecution of Golden Dawn by Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias and Justice Minister Haris Athansiou because of fears that the party was drawing support from New Democracy.
Several of Golden Dawn’s MPs including its leader are imprisoned pending trial on charges of belonging to a criminal organisation that were launched following the murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas in the autumn. Among the evidence collected by investigators includes weapons and photographic evidence depicting military style training camps and Nazi inspired swearing in ceremonies.
Kasidiaris himself as well as two other MPs were also detained but released pending trial. In the video Mr Baltakos describes Antonis Samaras as having flown into a rage when he heard of the release of the three.
Mr Baltakos is believed to be headed to the Prime Ministers office to offer explanations and his resignation. Coalition partner PASOK has already demanded Mr Baltakos resign in a heated response to the video.
Below is the video and the transcript provided by Kasidiaris (transcript translated by TPPi in full):
Kasidiaris:First of all when I got out, how did Samaras react can you tell me?
Baltakos: He was in America then
Kasidiaris: Yeah he was in America, but I heard that he went crazy.
Baltakos: Shock and awe! It was chaos, a shitstorm… he didn’t call me, I had said to him that with all this that you’re doing… I had warned him. He wouldn’t talk to me about it. He called the other two and fucking let them have it. [Justice Minister] Athanasios and [Public Order Minister] Dendias: “You tricked me, you fooled me, what is this! I’ve been humiliated!” Because the previous day he had made a statement to the American Zionist conference that ‘I did it, I locked them up, see ya!’ and the next day you got out.
Kasidiaris: With the magistrate who let us out there at that point, what happened? Why did they do a somersault afterwards, after letting us out, after getting the others they flipped.
Baltakos: They let you out for the simple reason that there is no evidence.
Kasidiaris: Yeah, ok, there was nothing
Baltakos: And no one called them to convince them because they all thought it was obvious… they all thought it was a given: ‘well what’s the magistrate going to do?’ But the magistrate didn’t have any evidence. Nothing!
Kasidiaris: He didn’t have for the others either.
Baltakos: But for the others there were… [Baltakos here holds a mock phone up to his ear to indicate that calls were made from the government to justice officials to ensure that the other MPs were not released. Note this is one interpretation. A second is that Baltakos is implying that the other defendents had been wire-tapped. It is not 100% clear which one is correct.]
Kasidiaris: Who did the damage there?
Baltakos: Both of them
Kasidiaris: Dendias, Athanasiou?
Baltakos: Who else?
Kasidiaris: And what does Samaras say about this, does he realize what is happening to him?
Baltakos: No, at the beginning he didn’t… but now that he’s seen the polls… he thinks, bourgeois as he is, all these fantastic things: ‘They’ll fall to 2%’… I tell him, ‘I think they’ll go to 20%’ ‘You’re an idiot’ he tells me.
Kasidiaris: Who told him to do these things?
Baltakos: First of all he’s frightened for himself. Because you prevent him from having a lead over SYRIZA
Kasidiaris: Ok he’s cutting votes
Baltakos: It makes sense
Kasidiaris: And because we draw votes from him he’s going to put us in jail?
Baltakos: The cocksucker… it’s an unbelievable thing. Unbelievable
Kasidiaris: And what Roupakiotis said? [That Samaras was acting on the orders of the ‘Jews and Americans’]
Baltakos: That’s for sure. I mean he did it the week that he was going there [to the US]
Kasidiaris: [Chief State Prosecutor] Goutzamanis? those things that she did? Yet I have information that she was on the right and did things by the book
Baltakos: (Does his cross)
Kasidiaris: She’s religious
Baltakos: Yes
Kasidiaris: : How did she do those heinous things with Vourliotis and the set up of that report?
Baltakos: They convinced her that ‘they're pagans, idolaters, nazis and they are the opposite of Christians.
Kasidiaris: Who convinced her of this?
Baltakos: Athanasiou and Dendias
Kasidiaris: : You should go to the prosecutor and say who has set up this whole plan. That Athanasiou gave orders to Goutzamani, that Samaras gave the order to Athanasiou and of them should be put on trial. If you are a fair person that’s what you need to do.
Baltakos: If I did that there would be a preliminary hearing for half an hour and it would go in the archive
Kasidiaris: You think eh?
Baltakos: Of courtse! With a Samaras government I would do it? To which Prosecutor should I go? Goutzamani is the Prosecutor. Shall I go and denounce Goutzamani to herself?
Kasidiaris: How did Goutzamani become Prosecutor of the Supreme Court?
Baltakos: They’re from the same village [i.e. Samaras and Goutzamani]
Kasidiaris: : Oh so she’s paying off the debt
Baltakos: Yes, they're from the same village. Well not the same village, but they're opposite, like this. But they got in at the same time, they’re almost the same age. They’re from the same place. We don’t need to puzzle over it.