FRANCE'S HIGHEST COURT HAS DECLARED THE ARMENIA GENOCIDE BILL UNCONSTITUTIONAL
The Business Insider
February 28, 2012 Tuesday 10:10 PM EST
The French bill that would have criminalized the denial of the Armenian
genocide has hit a roadblock. France's highest legal authority ruled
that the bill was unconstitutional, Reuters reports.
The decision by France's Constitutional Council invalidates the bill,
which it said was against the principles of freedom of expression
guaranteed in France's constitution. The bill was passed by both
houses of parliament and was due to be ratified by President Nicolas
Sarkozy at the end of the month.
The move was welcomed by Turkey, with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu saying his cabinet would meet to consider whether to restart
economic, political and military contacts with France. "The correction
of this grave error by the highest court in France is satisfying,"
Davutoglu said in a statement.
The president of the Council of Coordination of Armenian Organizations
in France, Franck Mourad Papazian, criticized the ruling, saying it
was the result of Turkish lobbying. "We have been totally outraged by
the Constitutional Council's decision at its very core, which is based
on politics rather than on legal grounds," he said, the AP reports.
But Sarkozy has not given up. Immediately following the ruling, his
office said he had asked the government to draft a new version of
the law which would take the decision into account. "The President
of the Republic considers that [genocide] denial is intolerable and
must therefore be punished," his office said in a statement.
From: Baghdasarian
The Business Insider
February 28, 2012 Tuesday 10:10 PM EST
The French bill that would have criminalized the denial of the Armenian
genocide has hit a roadblock. France's highest legal authority ruled
that the bill was unconstitutional, Reuters reports.
The decision by France's Constitutional Council invalidates the bill,
which it said was against the principles of freedom of expression
guaranteed in France's constitution. The bill was passed by both
houses of parliament and was due to be ratified by President Nicolas
Sarkozy at the end of the month.
The move was welcomed by Turkey, with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu saying his cabinet would meet to consider whether to restart
economic, political and military contacts with France. "The correction
of this grave error by the highest court in France is satisfying,"
Davutoglu said in a statement.
The president of the Council of Coordination of Armenian Organizations
in France, Franck Mourad Papazian, criticized the ruling, saying it
was the result of Turkish lobbying. "We have been totally outraged by
the Constitutional Council's decision at its very core, which is based
on politics rather than on legal grounds," he said, the AP reports.
But Sarkozy has not given up. Immediately following the ruling, his
office said he had asked the government to draft a new version of
the law which would take the decision into account. "The President
of the Republic considers that [genocide] denial is intolerable and
must therefore be punished," his office said in a statement.
From: Baghdasarian