In a statement the body (ElEDA) said the restriction was introduced without proper public consultation and noted its similarity to previous measures restricting demonstrations, including Law 4703/2020. ElEDA added that the measure was accompanied by references to military involvement in supervising the site — an element that, the organisation says, heightens concern about its necessity and purpose.

ElEDA recalled the central symbolic role of Syntagma Square in modern Greek political life, noting that ‘critical moments of modern political history, mass demonstrations and public gatherings have taken place at this particular point, making the area surrounding the monument a landmark for democracy and freedom.’

The body criticised the application of the ban in practice, pointing out that a criminal court has already used the new rule to convict members of the group Rubicon for hanging a banner at the monument. ‘This specific ban has already been implemented by a criminal court, despite its obvious unconstitutionality,’ ElEDA said.

ElEDA argues the exclusion from assemblies is not a mere spatial regulation but a direct infringement of Article 11 of the Greek constitution and Article 11 of the ECHR, which guarantee freedom of assembly. The statement also says the regulation runs counter to established case law of the Council of State and to standards in Council of Europe jurisprudence, which caution against general and indefinite restrictions that affect the core of a right.

The human-rights group criticised government suggestions that citizens can simply protest ‘a little further away’, saying such a claim ‘reverses the rule–exception relationship’: in liberal democracies, restrictions on rights should be exceptional and narrowly drawn, not the default. ElEDA added that the measure also ‘brutally attacks freedom of expression, which protects the choice of the manner and symbolism of an assembly’.

The organisation concluded by calling on the state to review the regulation immediately and to restore the full right of assembly at the monument, in line with constitutional guarantees and the protection of fundamental rights required by European case law.

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