The state is attempting to limit the right to protest
Common statement of Aeriko, Sispirosi Atakton, afoa comunnity of struggle, and Spirithkia on the proposed government bill that seeks to repress protests. The constant crises, real or manufactured, create a shift towards greater control over every aspect of social and political life. The measures of suppression that were imposed on people during the coronavirus pandemic have set a precedent for how a government can act. Similar measures are currently on their way to be legislated. This is part of a global trend that aims to impose restrictions on movements that resist state authoritarianism. In Cyprus, right-wing parties have recently greenlighted the possibility to press criminal charges against individuals whose complaints to the Independent Authority for the Investigation of Allegations and Complaints against the Police (ΑΑΔΙΠΑ) the police deems unfounded. Now, the government is proposing yet another bill aimed at curtailing the right to protest. The bill attempts to control the character, location, expression, and overall public image of political gatherings and demonstrations. It also imposes additional restrictions on the freedom of expression by imposing hefty fines for any irregularities that, in the judgment of the police officer in charge, occur during the gathering or protest. Aside from its potential unconstitutionality, the bill is undoubtedly characterised by anti-democratic tendencies and can be seen as a law that serves to deter and suppress social resistance to the realities we currently face and will face in the future. In the immediate future, labour movements will face further crackdown. Despite the ideological targeting of this bill, the scope of the issues it calls into question is vast: for example, it concerns citizens who wish to confront the corruption of government officials or even the government as a whole, or those who wish to protest against authoritarian policies. It also concerns restrictions on the freedom of expression of citizens who demand an end to the genocide in the Gaza Strip, allowing the government of Nicos Christodoulides to hold a monopoly on public opinion regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, whose outcome is forcing the President’s personal friend, the Prime Minister of Israel, to face the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Protests are also a means for disseminating information and opinions for those who wish to see beyond systemic media, which offers a monopolistic voice to the state and the oligarchy. Any restrictions imposed will certainly open the way for more such restrictions, and they constitute a choice the neoliberal state makes on its journey towards totalitarianism, during which ‘security’ is exchanged for freedom. This bill, designed by the government and at the behest of the police union, essentially facilitates the filing of arbitrary charges against protesters, and the ability to disperse demonstrations and impose fines on behalf of the law enforcement. In other words, political action is being assigned to the criminal sphere and into the hands of the forces of repression, as things ought to be in the mind of every junta enthusiast. The police already wield excessive power, and it is unconscionable to grant them further authority to decide how protesters ought to express themselves. The right to protest in a free and democratic society must be inviolable. AUTHORITARIANISM IS NOT AN OPTION CONSCIOUSNESS IS CREATED ON THE STREETS Aeriko, Sispirosi Atakton, Spirithkia, afoa – Community of Struggle
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