A Greek court ruled Wednesday that the far-right Golden Dawn party was operating as a criminal organization, delivering landmark guilty verdicts following a politically charged five-year trial against dozens of defendants.

Golden Dawn, founded as a neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, rose to become Greece’s third-largest party during the country’s recent financial crisis and was seen as a model for many extreme-right groups worldwide.

The court ruled that seven of the 18 former party lawmakers, including party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, were guilty of leading a criminal organization. The rest were found guilty of participating in a criminal organization. In all, there were 68 defendants in a trial encompassing four cases.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the verdict “ends a traumatic cycle” in the country’s public life.

“(It’s) a truly historic day for Greece, democracy, and the rule of law,” he tweeted following a televised address. “After the Greek people voted the neo-Nazi party of Golden Dawn out of Parliament in the last election, today the Greek justice system convicted its leadership of operating as a criminal organization.”

Antifascist protesters light up torches outside neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party offices after Greek court rules party leaders and ex-MPs guilty of running crime gang, in a landmark trial. Thousands of protesters demonstrate at night outside Golden Dawn offices in Thessaloniki, holding anti-nazi flags and banners, torches were light up while they wrote slogans on road with red paint: "The people demand the Nazis in jail." A Greek court ruled Wednesday that the far-right Golden Dawn party was operating as a criminal organization, delivering landmark guilty verdicts following a politically charged five-year trial against dozens of defendants.

Golden Dawn, founded as a neo-Nazi group in the 1980s, rose to become Greece’s third-largest party during the country’s recent financial crisis and was seen as a model for many extreme-right groups worldwide.

The court ruled that seven of the 18 former party lawmakers, including party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, were guilty of leading a criminal organization. The rest were found guilty of participating in a criminal organization. In all, there were 68 defendants in a trial encompassing four cases.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the verdict “ends a traumatic cycle” in the country’s public life. “(It’s) a truly historic day for Greece, democracy, and the rule of law,” he tweeted following a televised address. “After the Greek people voted the neo-Nazi party of Golden Dawn out of Parliament in the last election, today the Greek justice system convicted its leadership of operating as a criminal organization.”