Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and especially during the country’s second lockdown, Greece took a series of measures that have put the right to freedom of peaceful assembly at risk. They include detrimental legislative reforms regulating demonstrations; blanket bans on demonstrations; arbitrary arrests and criminalization of peaceful protesters for allegedly breaching public health rules; and imposition of unjustified fines.
Greece is strongly urged to bring its legislation on demonstrations in line with international human rights standards, halt the criminalization of peaceful protesters and ensure the prompt and thorough investigation of all allegations of human rights violations by law enforcement officials documented in this report.
