2007-06-01 09:26:49 -

BERLIN (AP) - A German court has tightened a ban on protests outside the resort of Heiligendamm, which will host next week's Group of Eight summit.

The administrative court in the northeastern city of Greifswald on Thursday night reversed a lower court's ruling that protests could be banned only within 200 meters (yards) of a

fence that has been built around the resort.

That ban came into force on Wednesday, when public access to Heiligendamm was shut off. Authorities want to expand the demonstration ban to a few kilometers (miles) beyond the fence starting June 5 _ a move that a lower court ruled against last week.

The Greifswald court struck down that ruling. It said that the planned restrictions «do not violate the basic right to freedom of assembly.»

An alliance of activist groups that plans a June 7 march said Friday that it planned to take the case to Germany's highest court.

Germany is determined to avoid a repeat of violence that has marred previous G-8 summits, notably in Genoa, Italy, in 2001.

However, anti-globalization activists have complained that the security measures surrounding the June 6-8 summit are excessive.

Authorities spent ¤12.5 million (US$17 million) on building the 12-kilometer (7½-mile) fence around Heiligendamm.