REPORTS
Prohibition of public gatherings ahead of the anniversary of the police killing of teenager Alexandros Grigoropoulos
Decision 1029/8/18-k issued by the Chief of the Hellenic Police provided, once again, for the prohibition of all public outdoor gatherings throughout the country. Just a few days earlier a similar decision had banned all gatherings in anticipation of the anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising, a decision which was the subject of much criticism (see more on the issue here).
This latest ban on public assembly concerned the period “from 05.00 to 12.00 midnight on December 6, 2020”, i.e. the day on which rallies and marches are held every year in memory of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a student who was shot and killed by a Greek police officer on December 6, 2008.
This general restriction/suspension of the right to assemble was the subject of the same criticism as the ban placed for the Polytechnic uprising anniversary, which is to say that it violates the provisions of the Constitution and the law governing the exercise (and the permissible restriction) of the right of assembly; that it violates the principle of proportionality, and that it uses the pandemic as a pretext to unlawfully suspend the exercise of constitutional rights (see 1, 2, 3).
Respect for human rights is one of the key components of a state governed by the rule of law.
Any restriction of fundamental individual rights is lawful only if it takes place in a constitutionally permissible manner, subject to certain basic legal guarantees, such as the principle of proportionality and the prohibition of the infringement of the essence of the right.
The decision of the Chief of Police to prohibit without discrimination all public outdoor gatherings and the corresponding restriction of the right to assemble raises serious concerns as it does not seem to correspond with constitutional requirements.
The need to protect public health and to take measures to address the spread of the pandemic must not take place in a way that undermines respect for human rights and the rule of law.
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