The Ministry for Citizen Protection has banned public gatherings with four and more persons across Greece with an order valid form 5:00 a.m. on December 6 until midnight Sunday. The decision is justified for reasons of public health and as a precaution measure to prohibit the spread of the coronavirus.
In terms of democracy, it is a ban of gatherings of people to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the murder of 15-year-old boy Alexandros Grigoropoulos shot dead by a police special guard in 2008.
Despite the ban, several organizations, artists and lawyers reiterated their call for a protest rally on Sunday morning.
The measures will be similar to those on Nov 17th, when people gathered to commemorate the Polytechnic Students’ Uprising of 1973.
Demonstrators wore masks and kept social distancing but police did not.
At the same time, in Athens, six metro stations will be closed to public by police order.
The stations affected are: Omonia, Panepistimio, Syntagma, Akropoli, Monastiraki and Victoria.
The stations will close at 8:00 a.m. and open again when the police decides. The train will pass through but will not stop at the above mentioned stations.
Some 4,000 police officers will be deployed in Athens, helicopters and drones will monitor the situation from above.
PS In November, Amnesty International condemned the horizontal ban of public gatherings with over 4 people, but you think the government of an EU member country would care?
