French Senate’s Constitutional Commission rejected the draft law on penalty for refusal of so-called Armenian genocide.
The commission urged the lawmakers not to interfere in the work of historians and said this law could seriously damage the French-Turkish relations, APA reports quoting the Turkish news agencies.
Member of the Commission Jean-Jacques Hyest reminded that France recognized “Armenian genocide” on January 29, 2001 and the new law on penalty for refusal of the “genocide” could cause a number of problems. Hyest said in his report that the draft law is against the Constitutional principle about lawfulness of the penalties. In distinction from the Jewish genocide, there is no international document or resolution about the “Armenian genocide”. Punishment of those, who refuse the “Armenian genocide”, will violate the principles of freedom of speech and idea considered by the European Convention on Human Rights. Senator Hyest reminded the opinion of the French foreign ministry that if the draft law is approved, France will face with problems with the countries, which have tragic events in their history. Those countries will demand France to adopt similar laws.
The oppositionist Socialist and Communist parties will propose to put the draft on the Senate’s agenda on May 4. If this proposal is rejected, the draft law will be sent back to the lower house – National Assembly.
The draft law adopted by the National Assembly on October 12, 2006 considers one year of imprisonment and pecuniary penalty of 45 000 euro for refusal of the “Armenian genocide”.
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