Text ala PASOK which attempts to raise the question of the constitutionality of the government’s amendment to his memorial Unknown Soldier as … zoning dispute of certain square meters, its deputies filed Harilaou Trikoupi in Parliament in order to express their disagreement about the arrangement.
With a reasoning that refers to “yes, but” PASOK MPs admit that the cenotaph of the Unknown Soldier is a monument of “respect and special protection to preserve its integrity”, however, they add that the area directly in front of the monument and up to Amalia Avenue is the “upper part” of Syntagma Square and any ban on public assembly is unconstitutional.
“The area of Syntagma Square is different and should not be confused with the area of the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, which certainly must receive respect and special protection in order to preserve its integrity and its intended use as a Monument” it is characteristically mentioned to add “The exclusion of the gathering in part of Syntagma Square, which is an eminently timeless part of public assembly and peaceful demonstration of Greek citizens, is a flagrant violation of Article 11 of the Constitution. The prohibition of assembly in the Syntagma square contradicts the principle of proportionality in the sense of the violation of necessity by the proposed provisions”.
The Harilaou Trikoupis parliamentarians even argue that protection could be ensured by excluding the “necessary square meters” around the Monument, but not the entire area provided for by the amendment.
“The protection of a memorial space, such as the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, can be accomplished by prohibiting the use or occupation of the surface or altering the space of the monument, while the prohibition of any public outdoor gathering could also be provided for in the necessary square meters around the monument. However, the entire upper part of Syntagma Square cannot be understood as a necessary measure in any way. The proposed provisions completely unconstitutionally confuse the Monument to the Unknown Soldier with part of Syntagma Square, simulating the space of a monument and the space of a square in violation of Article 11 of the Constitution and the principle of proportionality,” it says.
However, according to the maps of the Cadastre, the total area that stretches in front of the Monument to the Unknown Soldier up to Amalia Avenue is not the “upper part” of Syntagma Square as PASOK claims, but a continuation of the Hellenic Parliament.