Greeks protest against passing of antiprotest law
ATHENS: Greece’s parliament yesterday approved a Bill regulating street demonstrations as thousands marched through central Athens to denounce the new law.
The law was introduced by Greece’s conservative government in an attempt to regulate demonstrations which it said caused frequent disruptions to the public and affected commerce.
About 10,000 demonstrators rallied outside parliament holding banners reading ‘‘hands off demonstrations’’. A group of protesters who peeled off from the main group threw petrol bombs at police, who responded with teargas.
The Bill mandates the appointment of a liaison officer, restrictions on demonstrations or outright bans if authorities deem they threaten public safety. It also holds organisers accountable for harm or damage caused by protesters.
The new legislation was approved by 187 lawmakers in the 300seat parliament.
Street protests occur frequently in Greece, which is still recovering from a deep socioeconomic crisis that erupted in late 2009.
Syntagma Square in front of the parliament was then the scene of large antiausterity protests, and some turned violent. Protests have continued during the recovery but turnouts fell.
‘‘One’s freedom to protest is as valuable as another person’s freedom to reach the hospital, his work, his home,’’ Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, supporting the Bill.
The new rules aim to replace a 1971 junta decree restricting rallies. Unionists and opposition parties accuse the Government of acting preemptively to quash any opposition to possible fallout from the Covid19 pandemic.
‘‘The Government . . . dares boldly with a juntainspired Bill to promote new restrictions to quash and destroy a main democratic right, which our people conquered through bloody battles,’’ unionist Dimitris Karagiannis said before the vote. — Reuters