Health protocols issued for Cyprus demonstrations

As the island continues to scramble to manage its coronavirus pandemic, justice minister Emily Yioliti and the police put their heads together on Monday morning to come up with rules that will apply for protests and demonstrations, after hundreds of anti-maskers took to the streets on Saturday in defiance of health and safety rules in place.

Cyprus demonstrators are now required to wear face masks and maintain distances of 1.5 metres between them.

Further, authorities will require organizers of demonstrations to designate a person who will be responsible for ensuring that the rules are adhered to.

Cyprus police were heavily criticized over the weekend for not taking action against a large crowd of anti-maskers, who gathered outside the Presidential Palace in violation of health protocols.

Hundreds of people on Saturday gathered outside the Presidential Palace in Nicosia where they joined a demonstration with so-called conspiracy undertones against mandatory face-mask wearing, as well as protesting 5G technology and vaccinations.

Despite the demonstrators’ flouting of health protocols, Yioliti said Monday that none of those that gathered on Saturday will be reported.

“Our intention is to safeguard the right to protest but also to ensure that measures are being followed,” Yioliti said, adding that the measures “do not aim at undermining democracy but at saving lives.”