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HUMAN RIGHTS COURT SAYS DENYING MASSACRE PART OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH
United Press International UPI
Dec 18 2013
Dec. 18, 2013 at 12:44 PM
STRASBOURG, France, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Prosecutions of people who deny
the Armenian massacre of 1915 are violations of the freedom of speech,
the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.
Rejecting a conviction in Switzerland, the court said "the right
to openly debate sensitive questions that are likely to displease
someone is a fundamental aspect of freedom of expression," Radio
France Internationale reported Tuesday.
A Lausanne court in 2007 found Dogu Pernicek, leader of the nationalist
Turkish Workers Party, guilty of "denying the Armenian genocide for
racist motives."
Pernicek did not deny in speeches that thousands of Armenians had been
killed, but said claims the Ottoman Empire had genocidal intentions
were "an international lie."
Denying, belittling or justifying genocide is a violation of Swiss
law and the Lausanne court said the facts of the genocide were common
knowledge.
The ECHR said no consensus existed on the question of whether the
deaths of the Armenians constituted genocide. Drawing a comparison,
the court said there no doubt of the Nazis' intent in killing millions
of Jews.
France will reportedly introduce to parliament in the next few months a
proposal banning denial of the Armenian genocide. A previous law passed
in 2011 was ruled unconstitutional by France's Constitutional Council.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/12/18/Human-rights-court-says-denying-massacre-part-of-freedom-of-speech/UPI-96221387388682/?spt=rln&or=2
United Press International UPI
Dec 18 2013
Dec. 18, 2013 at 12:44 PM
STRASBOURG, France, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Prosecutions of people who deny
the Armenian massacre of 1915 are violations of the freedom of speech,
the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.
Rejecting a conviction in Switzerland, the court said "the right
to openly debate sensitive questions that are likely to displease
someone is a fundamental aspect of freedom of expression," Radio
France Internationale reported Tuesday.
A Lausanne court in 2007 found Dogu Pernicek, leader of the nationalist
Turkish Workers Party, guilty of "denying the Armenian genocide for
racist motives."
Pernicek did not deny in speeches that thousands of Armenians had been
killed, but said claims the Ottoman Empire had genocidal intentions
were "an international lie."
Denying, belittling or justifying genocide is a violation of Swiss
law and the Lausanne court said the facts of the genocide were common
knowledge.
The ECHR said no consensus existed on the question of whether the
deaths of the Armenians constituted genocide. Drawing a comparison,
the court said there no doubt of the Nazis' intent in killing millions
of Jews.
France will reportedly introduce to parliament in the next few months a
proposal banning denial of the Armenian genocide. A previous law passed
in 2011 was ruled unconstitutional by France's Constitutional Council.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/12/18/Human-rights-court-says-denying-massacre-part-of-freedom-of-speech/UPI-96221387388682/?spt=rln&or=2