(The amendment was adopted a few days after the conclusion of Panos Routsi’s 23-day hunger strike and the families’ successful demand for exhumation and toxicology testing.)

The measure was carried with 159 votes in favour and 134 against. The three additional votes beyond the New Democracy parliamentary group came from independent MPs Giorgos Aspiotis, Charalambos Hatzivardas and Konstantinos Floros. Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias voted in favour. Several opposition parties, including PASOK, SYRIZA, the New Left and Plefsi Eleftherias, objected to the amendment as unconstitutional; KKE and NIKI called for its withdrawal.

The text is a two-article insertion in a broader bill on the establishment and organisation of a legal entity under public law for the Civil Aviation Authority and other provisions under the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. It includes a topographical annex that formally identifies the entire area between Amalias Avenue and the Parliament building as part of the Monument to the Unknown Soldier.

According to the report of the General Accounting Office of the State, the amendment ‘introduces prohibitions on the use of the space in front of the Unknown Soldier (occupation of surface, alteration of the space, etc.) and specifies the penalties (imprisonment and fine) imposed on those who violate these prohibitions’. The provision states: ‘In accordance with the principle of proportionality, any violation of the above provision is punishable, in accordance with paragraph 2, by imprisonment for up to one (1) year or by a fine, provided that no more severe penalty is provided for in another provision.’ It adds that under article 409 of the Code of Criminal Procedure the possibility of issuing a criminal order is provided and that, where a prison sentence is imposed, it may be converted into community service.

The amendment also allocates roles between ministries. The Hellenic Police is tasked with ‘observance of public order and prohibitions’, while the Ministry of National Defence assumes responsibility for the monument’s ‘maintenance, care and promotion’. The text permits the Ministry of Defence to assign these duties through contract. Critics have warned that the redefinition of the space and the new criminal penalties will sharply curtail politically visible forms of protest at the most symbolic civic site directly facing Parliament.

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