Greece’s Parliament passed a new law banning demonstrations at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside its building, despite criticism by opposition parties that the new restrictions violated people’s right to rally in public.
The new law was passed with 159 votes in favor and 134 against, out of 293 MPs present. The large paved area around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a century-old relief depicting a fallen warrior holding a shield and wearing an ancient Greek helmet, was a focal point of anti-austerity protests during Greece’s 2009-2018 debt crisis.
The amendment was introduced this month by the conservative government after Panos Ruci, a man who lost his son in the Tempi rail disaster, held a 23-day hunger strike near the site, demanding more accountability for the country’s deadliest rail disaster. Mass rallies were held this year over the train crash, which has become an emblem of state ills: people have spray-painted in red on the ground near the site the names of the 57 victims.
The new law bans rallies near the cenotaph, which faces Syntagma Square, and also bans any alteration or use of the area except for visits to pay tribute or view the relief. Offenders face up to a year in prison under the law, which tasks the defense ministry with keeping the cenotaph guarded day and night by presidential guards.
“It’s a sacred area that doesn’t belong to any government, party, organization or person,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during the debate on Tuesday.
Related: Greece’s Witness to History: The Unknown Soldier Monument
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