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SWISS PROSECUTORS DROP CHARGES AGAINST TURKISH MINISTER IN GENOCIDE PROBE
Today's Zaman
April 3 2012
Turkey
Swiss prosecutors will drop a criminal probe against Turkey's EU
affairs minister, instigated after he made remarks rejecting Armenian
claims of genocide at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire nearly
100 years ago, because he is protected by diplomatic immunity.
Zurich prosecutors began investigating Egemen BagıÅ~_ after comments
he made at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, and also at
a concert in Zurich. Turkey summoned the Swiss ambassador in Ankara
to complain after the investigation was launched.
"After consulting with the Swiss foreign ministry, the prosecutor
has concluded that criminal charges against Egemen BagıÅ~_ cannot be
pursued because, as a Turkish EU minister, he enjoyed immunity during
his entire stay in Switzerland," the prosecutor said in a statement
on Monday.
Commenting on a French Parliament move to criminalize denial of
the alleged genocide, BagıÅ~_ said in Zurich: "This [French] bill
is null and void for us. We believe that there are more people with
common sense than those without it in France. Switzerland is another
country where it is a crime to deny the so-called genocide. Here I
am in Switzerland today, and I'm saying the 1915 incidents did not
amount to genocide. Let them come arrest me."
Armenians claim that the 1915 killings of 1.5 million Armenians as
the Ottoman Empire broke up was the 20th century's first genocide,
and several European countries have recognized the massacres as such.
Switzerland has convicted people of racism for denying genocide.
But Turkey asserts that there was no systematic campaign to
kill Armenians and that many Turks also died during the chaotic
disintegration of the empire. It also argues that the death toll
is inflated.
Switzerland has a penal code article that punishes acts of racism,
including public denial of genocides, established against a backdrop
of right-wing attacks targeting asylum seekers in the country two
decades ago.
Swiss authorities have taken legal action against several people who
have denied the Armenian genocide claims. The most prominent case
is the conviction of Turkish politician Dogu Perincek, who was fined
3,000 Swiss francs in 2007.
In January, the French Senate approved similar legislation, prompting
an angry response from Turkey. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan termed the legislation "discriminatory and racist."
The bill, however, was later annulled by France's Constitutional
Council, which said it was contradictory to the principles of freedom
of expression enshrined in France's founding documents.
Today's Zaman
April 3 2012
Turkey
Swiss prosecutors will drop a criminal probe against Turkey's EU
affairs minister, instigated after he made remarks rejecting Armenian
claims of genocide at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire nearly
100 years ago, because he is protected by diplomatic immunity.
Zurich prosecutors began investigating Egemen BagıÅ~_ after comments
he made at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, and also at
a concert in Zurich. Turkey summoned the Swiss ambassador in Ankara
to complain after the investigation was launched.
"After consulting with the Swiss foreign ministry, the prosecutor
has concluded that criminal charges against Egemen BagıÅ~_ cannot be
pursued because, as a Turkish EU minister, he enjoyed immunity during
his entire stay in Switzerland," the prosecutor said in a statement
on Monday.
Commenting on a French Parliament move to criminalize denial of
the alleged genocide, BagıÅ~_ said in Zurich: "This [French] bill
is null and void for us. We believe that there are more people with
common sense than those without it in France. Switzerland is another
country where it is a crime to deny the so-called genocide. Here I
am in Switzerland today, and I'm saying the 1915 incidents did not
amount to genocide. Let them come arrest me."
Armenians claim that the 1915 killings of 1.5 million Armenians as
the Ottoman Empire broke up was the 20th century's first genocide,
and several European countries have recognized the massacres as such.
Switzerland has convicted people of racism for denying genocide.
But Turkey asserts that there was no systematic campaign to
kill Armenians and that many Turks also died during the chaotic
disintegration of the empire. It also argues that the death toll
is inflated.
Switzerland has a penal code article that punishes acts of racism,
including public denial of genocides, established against a backdrop
of right-wing attacks targeting asylum seekers in the country two
decades ago.
Swiss authorities have taken legal action against several people who
have denied the Armenian genocide claims. The most prominent case
is the conviction of Turkish politician Dogu Perincek, who was fined
3,000 Swiss francs in 2007.
In January, the French Senate approved similar legislation, prompting
an angry response from Turkey. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan termed the legislation "discriminatory and racist."
The bill, however, was later annulled by France's Constitutional
Council, which said it was contradictory to the principles of freedom
of expression enshrined in France's founding documents.