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FRANCE'S CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL STRIKES DOWN GENOCIDE BILL
By Erik West
The Australian Eye
http://www.theaustralianeye.com/news/frances-constitutional-council-strikes-down-genocide-bill-aoi35820640.html
Feb 29 2012
PARIS _ French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday ordered his
government to return to the drawing board after the country's top
constitutional authority struck down a controversial bill banning
the denial of the Armenian genocide, in a decision welcomed by Turkey.
On Jan. 23, the French parliament adopted a bill making it a crime
to deny genocides recognized by France.
The bill had sparked a major rift with Turkey because the only event
France officially recognizes as genocide, besides the Holocaust during
World War II, is the killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians
in eastern Turkey during World War I.
"By opting to protect the concept of universal human rights the
French Constitutional Court has decided in accordance with what
everyone believes to be European morals," Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying by the Anatolian news agency.
"We congratulate the court for its decision," Davutogly said.
The bill, which was put forward by Sarkozy's party, would have punished
people who deny the killings were genocide with a year's imprisonment
and about $57,000 in fines.
But the nine-member Constitutional Council, which includes former
presidents Jacques Chirac and Valery Giscard d'Estaing as members,
pulled the bill up short, saying it represented an "unconstitutional
breach of the practice of freedom of expression."
The council had been asked to vet the bill by a group of
parliamentarians who said that, while they did not dispute the
existence of the Armenian genocide, they believed the text violated
some basic freedoms.
Sarkozy in a statement said he had "taken note" of the decision and
had ordered the government to draw up a new bill that would take the
Constitutional Council's ruling into account.
Sarkozy also said he would meet soon with members of France's Armenian
community.
Turkey had accused Sarkozy of pandering to the small but influential
Armenian community in order to win votes in this year's presidential
election. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the
bill as "racist" and suspended bilateral programs.
A spokesman for the Turkish embassy in Paris welcomed the
Constitutional Council's decision, saying it showed that French
institutions could be counted on to uphold freedom of expression.
"It's good news," spokesman Engin Solakoglu told the German news agency
dpa. "The French executive went against Franco-Turkish interests. We
won't forget that."
Armenians say about 1.5 million people were either killed or died
during forced deportations in Ottoman-controlled eastern Turkey in
1915. France is one of several countries to declare the slaughter
constituted genocide.
Turkey concedes hundreds of thousands of people were killed but
rejects the genocide label, arguing there was no systematic policy
to destroy the Armenian community.
From: Baghdasarian
By Erik West
The Australian Eye
http://www.theaustralianeye.com/news/frances-constitutional-council-strikes-down-genocide-bill-aoi35820640.html
Feb 29 2012
PARIS _ French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday ordered his
government to return to the drawing board after the country's top
constitutional authority struck down a controversial bill banning
the denial of the Armenian genocide, in a decision welcomed by Turkey.
On Jan. 23, the French parliament adopted a bill making it a crime
to deny genocides recognized by France.
The bill had sparked a major rift with Turkey because the only event
France officially recognizes as genocide, besides the Holocaust during
World War II, is the killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians
in eastern Turkey during World War I.
"By opting to protect the concept of universal human rights the
French Constitutional Court has decided in accordance with what
everyone believes to be European morals," Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying by the Anatolian news agency.
"We congratulate the court for its decision," Davutogly said.
The bill, which was put forward by Sarkozy's party, would have punished
people who deny the killings were genocide with a year's imprisonment
and about $57,000 in fines.
But the nine-member Constitutional Council, which includes former
presidents Jacques Chirac and Valery Giscard d'Estaing as members,
pulled the bill up short, saying it represented an "unconstitutional
breach of the practice of freedom of expression."
The council had been asked to vet the bill by a group of
parliamentarians who said that, while they did not dispute the
existence of the Armenian genocide, they believed the text violated
some basic freedoms.
Sarkozy in a statement said he had "taken note" of the decision and
had ordered the government to draw up a new bill that would take the
Constitutional Council's ruling into account.
Sarkozy also said he would meet soon with members of France's Armenian
community.
Turkey had accused Sarkozy of pandering to the small but influential
Armenian community in order to win votes in this year's presidential
election. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the
bill as "racist" and suspended bilateral programs.
A spokesman for the Turkish embassy in Paris welcomed the
Constitutional Council's decision, saying it showed that French
institutions could be counted on to uphold freedom of expression.
"It's good news," spokesman Engin Solakoglu told the German news agency
dpa. "The French executive went against Franco-Turkish interests. We
won't forget that."
Armenians say about 1.5 million people were either killed or died
during forced deportations in Ottoman-controlled eastern Turkey in
1915. France is one of several countries to declare the slaughter
constituted genocide.
Turkey concedes hundreds of thousands of people were killed but
rejects the genocide label, arguing there was no systematic policy
to destroy the Armenian community.
From: Baghdasarian