Greek officials pledge probe into Golden Dawn

ATHENS, Greece, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Greek officials pledged a full investigation into allegations police officers turned a blind eye to crimes committed by the neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn.

Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias said the nation's police force will conduct a thorough investigation into the Golden Dawn, whose Nikos Michaloliakos, was arrested last weekend along with five members of Parliament.

A large weapons cache was seized during the arrests though it is unclear what the group was planning to do with them.

Dendais defended the police against claims they were too slow to investigate Golden Dawn. The group was responsible for violence at a largely immigrant-populated church market where stalls were destroyed in 2012, Kathimerini reported.

Dendais said the department has known since that incident some officers were active Golden Dawn members and suspended them.

"Back then, police officers were suspended either for active involvement in Golden Dawn or for failing to react to what it was doing," he said.

He said there's a willingness on the part of police to conduct a full and fair investigation so "a shadow does not hang over the majority of honest policemen."