ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2020) The center of Athens has been rocked by people protesting near the parliament, which discusses a bill that would put limits on demonstrations, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) reported on Thursday.
The parliament is expected to vote on a bill that would change the current relatively easy procedure of holding mass gatherings. The changes said to include obliging organizers notify authorities beforehand about open-air events even though an undeclared event does not become illegal. Another novelty is the right to ban gatherings for public security reasons or to protect a social and economic life of a district from disproportionate disturbance. It would also allow the police to disperse demonstrations on some occasions.
Meanwhile, a group of 150 people at the central Syntagma Square, where the parliament is located, started throwing Molotov cocktails, stones, and bottles with the police retaliating with teargas. The disturbance lasted for about 15 minutes.
The government says that constant rallies create problems for the residents, interrupts traffic and trade while the opposition claims it to be the first case of curtailing the right of assembly since the post-WW2 rule of the military junta.
