On Monday, the conservative government of New Democracy (ND) submitted to the Greek Parliament a despicable bill that aims to restrict demonstrations, protest rallies and outdoor public gatherings.
The bill stipulates that organizers will have to promptly notify police or port authorities about planned gatherings. It provides for restrictions regarding the amount of road space occupied and the location of the demo. It also allows authorities to ban demonstrations under certain conditions, and sees criminal penalties for violators.
Through this bill, the government actually tries to set unacceptable restrictions on the struggle of the workers-people’s movement. It is characteristic that the governmental bill includes provisions similar to a 1971 law imposed by the then military Junta, which authorizes police to prohibit any protest or outdoor mass gathering.
Trade Unions have already condemned the monstrous bill and prepare for a dynamic response to the governmental plans.
The Communist Party of Greece (KKE), which is at the forefront of the struggle against the undemocratic bill, has called for protests in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities on Thursday 2 July.
In a statement regarding the proposed bill, the General Secretary of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas underlined: “It is a bill that essentially puts under ban and restriction any popular mobilization. It is a bill of state terrorism, authoritarianism and repression. But the government is deeply mistaken if it thinks that this junta-inspired construction will be implemented and, much more, legitimized in the people’s conscience. The organized labor-popular movement will nullify it in practice, as it did in the past with similar laws that wanted to paralyse people’s claims”.
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| Poster by PAME: "The workers' voice cannot be muted. The prohibition of demonstrations will not pass". |
The All Workers-Militant Front (PAME) has strongly condemned the bill, pointing out that “the workers will nullify in practice every effort that aims to silence them, to turn the labor places into getthoes and criminalize resistance”. A poster published today by PAME reads: "The workers' voice cannot be muted. The prohibition of demonstrations will not pass".
