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FRENCH GENOCIDE BILL DEALT SETBACK
UPI United Press International
Jan 18 2012
Comments (1)EmailPrintListen PARIS, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The Laws
Commission of the French Senate rejected a bill Wednesday that would
make denying the 1915 Armenian genocide in Turkey a crime.
The full Senate will take up the measure Monday, and it is expected
to pass, Radio France Internationale reported. The National Assembly
approved it in December.
If the bill becomes law, anyone convicted of denying that hundreds
of thousands of Armenians were deliberately killed in Turkey could
face a year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (almost $60,000). A
similar law criminalizes Holocaust denial, and a 2001 law officially
declares the massacres of 1915 to be genocide.
Armenians say 1.5 million people were killed in a deliberate attempt
to wipe them out in Turkey. The Turkish government, which can prosecute
people who describe what happened as a genocide, says the actual number
was about 500,000 and the killings were a consequence of World War I.
Turkey has threatened France with economic and diplomatic reprisals
if the bill becomes law.
UPI United Press International
Jan 18 2012
Comments (1)EmailPrintListen PARIS, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The Laws
Commission of the French Senate rejected a bill Wednesday that would
make denying the 1915 Armenian genocide in Turkey a crime.
The full Senate will take up the measure Monday, and it is expected
to pass, Radio France Internationale reported. The National Assembly
approved it in December.
If the bill becomes law, anyone convicted of denying that hundreds
of thousands of Armenians were deliberately killed in Turkey could
face a year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (almost $60,000). A
similar law criminalizes Holocaust denial, and a 2001 law officially
declares the massacres of 1915 to be genocide.
Armenians say 1.5 million people were killed in a deliberate attempt
to wipe them out in Turkey. The Turkish government, which can prosecute
people who describe what happened as a genocide, says the actual number
was about 500,000 and the killings were a consequence of World War I.
Turkey has threatened France with economic and diplomatic reprisals
if the bill becomes law.