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SARKOZY PARTY SAYS NO NEW GENOCIDE LAW BEFORE JUNE
Agence France Presse
February 29, 2012 Wednesday 11:25 AM GMT
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's party said Wednesday that a new
bill to punish denial of the Armenian genocide would not be put
forward before June after a top court struck down a previous draft.
"The problem is that unfortunately parliament's work has finished
and we can't put this bill on the agenda," party leader Francois Cope
told journalists after Sarkozy vowed to draw up a new draft.
"We will have to wait for the next parliament," after elections in
June, Cope said.
France's Constitutional Council on Tuesday ruled that the bill to
punish denial of the 1915 Armenian genocide was unconstitutional as
it infringed on the right to freedom of expression.
Sarkozy is facing a tough reelection battle in a two-round April-May
presidential vote ahead of June's parliamentary polls.
He has been accused of seeking the vote of France's large Armenian
community with the genocide bill.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their forebears were killed in
a 1915-16 genocide by Turkey's former Ottoman Empire. Turkey says
500,000 died and ascribes the toll to fighting and starvation during
World War I.
From: Baghdasarian
Agence France Presse
February 29, 2012 Wednesday 11:25 AM GMT
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's party said Wednesday that a new
bill to punish denial of the Armenian genocide would not be put
forward before June after a top court struck down a previous draft.
"The problem is that unfortunately parliament's work has finished
and we can't put this bill on the agenda," party leader Francois Cope
told journalists after Sarkozy vowed to draw up a new draft.
"We will have to wait for the next parliament," after elections in
June, Cope said.
France's Constitutional Council on Tuesday ruled that the bill to
punish denial of the 1915 Armenian genocide was unconstitutional as
it infringed on the right to freedom of expression.
Sarkozy is facing a tough reelection battle in a two-round April-May
presidential vote ahead of June's parliamentary polls.
He has been accused of seeking the vote of France's large Armenian
community with the genocide bill.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their forebears were killed in
a 1915-16 genocide by Turkey's former Ottoman Empire. Turkey says
500,000 died and ascribes the toll to fighting and starvation during
World War I.
From: Baghdasarian