GREEK authorities are searching for a leading member and former politician of the far-right Golden Dawn party after he evaded arrest.

Police were searching today for Christos Pappas, officially considered a fugitive following Thursday’s court decision ordering a total of 39 people, including 13 former Golden Dawn lawmakers, to be imprisoned after they were convicted of running the party as a criminal organisation.

All but two of the 39 were in custody by Thursday night, having turned themselves in.

However, Mr Pappas’s lawyer Periklis Stavrianakis told Greek state broadcaster ERT that his client was not surrendering as he considered his conviction would be quashed on appeal, meaning he would have served a prison sentence that could be overturned.

Appeals processes in the Greek court system can take several years.

The other former Golden Dawn lawmaker not yet in custody is Ioannis Lagos, currently a European parliament member who lives in Brussels and is protected by immunity.

The 37 people in custody, including party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, are expected to be transferred to prisons across the country.