Eleni StamatoukouAthensBIRNOctober 22, 202518:35In response to a long hunger strike in front of the tomb by the father of a Tempi train crash victim, parliament approved a law assigning the monument’s care to the Defence Ministry – and limiting rights of access.
Guards change shift at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens, December 2022. Photo: EPA/YANNIS KOLESIDIS.
Greece on Wednesday passed a bill assigning protection and management of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to the Ministry of Defence.
After two days of intense debate, the bill was approved with 159 votes in favour and 134 against, out of a total of 293 members of parliament.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on October 12 announced the upcoming regulation following Panos Ruci’s hunger strike in front of the tomb for 23 days. Ruci, father of one of the victims of the 2023 Tempi train crash, which claimed 57 lives, was demanding the exhumation of his son’s body.
Nikos Androulakis, leader of the centre-left party, PASOK, accused Mitsotakis of using “a symbol of national unity to divide society with the sole aim of solving his internal party issues in New Democracy”.
On October 2, Defence Minister Nikos Dendias appeared to support Ruci’s demands when he said: “I cannot imagine… how a father’s right to investigate anything he deems necessary, in whatever way he deems fit, regarding the death of his child, could be prohibited.”
However, not everyone in the government agreed.
The bill limits use of the tomb to visitation and the commemoration of its significance, and prohibits any alterations to the site. Public outdoor gatherings, both planned and spontaneous, are banned, with violations punishable by up to two years in prison and fines.
The Ministry of Defence is tasked with the monument’s maintenance, care and promotion, while the police are to ensure public order.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
