The government of Cyprus has agreed to change a new law about public protests. This follows strong criticism from an international security organization, the OSCE. The original law was passed in July after some small protests. Many people, including opposition politicians and human rights groups, said it was too strict and unclear.
The criticism grew when the OSCE said the law broke international human rights standards. It said the law could scare people away from peaceful protests. Because of this, both the opposition and the government started working to change it.
An opposition politician, Irene Charalambides, asked the OSCE for its opinion and then wrote a new bill. The Justice Ministry also wrote its own changes. In a meeting on Monday, they found their ideas were very similar. A ministry representative said the two texts were 70-80% the same. The committee chairman said this meant they had a consensus to change the law.
The main changes will limit police power. For example, police will no longer be able to ask protesters to remove face coverings whenever they want. They will first need to show that a person is being violent. Also, protest organizers will not be held responsible for problems they did not cause.
The government prefers to change the law, not cancel it completely. Discussions on the details will happen in January, followed by a final vote. Experts say this situation shows how international opinions can help protect democracy. It also shows the danger of making laws too quickly during a crisis.