Greece bans protests near memorial outside parliament

ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece's parliament banned demonstrations near a prominent war memorial outside its building in Athens on Wednesday despite criticism by opposition parties that the new restrictions violated people's right to rally in public.

The large paved area around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a century-old relief depicting a fallen warrior holding a shield and wearing an ancient Greek helmet, was a focal point of anti-austerity protests during Greece's 2009-2018 debt crisis.

The amendment was introduced this month by the conservative government after a man who lost his son in a 2023 train crash held a 23-day, sit-in hunger strike near the site, demanding more accountability for the country's deadliest rail disaster.

Mass rallies were held this year over the train crash, which has become an emblem of state ills: people have spray-painted in red on the ground near the site the names of the 57 victims.

The new law bans rallies near the cenotaph, which faces Syntagma Square, and also bans any alteration or use of the area except for visits to pay tribute or view the relief.

Offenders face up to a year in prison under the law, which tasks the defence ministry with keeping the cenotaph guarded day and night by presidential guards.

"It's a sacred area that doesn't belong to any government, party, organisation or person," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during the debate on Tuesday.

Critics and the centre-left opposition said the ban was unconstitutional and leftist parties vowed to fight it on the streets.

"We will abolish it. Action, life itself, will undo it," Zoe Constantopoulou, leader of the small Plefsi Eleftherias party, told parliament.

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou, Louisa Gouliamaki and Angeliki Koutantou; editing by Philippa Fletcher)