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Amal Clooney in court to condemn Armenia genocide-denier

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  • Amal Clooney in court to condemn Armenia genocide-denier

    Expatica France
    Jan 28 2015

    Amal Clooney in court to condemn Armenia genocide-denier

    28th January 2015


    A long-running battle over one man's denial of the Armenian genocide
    returned to the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday, drawing
    added attention by the presence of Amal Clooney.

    The international human rights lawyer, who married Hollywood star
    George Clooney last year, was representing the Armenian government
    against a Turkish politician who denies a genocide took place 100
    years ago.

    Dogu Perincek, chairman of the Turkish Workers' Party, was convicted
    eight years ago in Switzerland for describing the Armenian genocide of
    1915 as an "international lie".

    He says that was an attack on his freedom of speech and the ECHR
    agreed with him in a December 2013 ruling.

    The Swiss authorities have appealed the decision, and have the backing
    of Armenia, which says 1.5 million people were killed by Turkey's
    Ottoman rulers.

    Amal Clooney said the court's 2013 decision "cast doubt on the reality
    of genocide that Armenian people suffered a century ago".

    She also slammed Turkey for hypocrisy, saying: "This court knows very
    well how disgraceful Turkey's record on freedom of expression is."

    Lawyers for Perincek and the Turkish government argue that the
    Armenian genocide is not a matter of "general consensus" like the
    Holocaust.

    Turkey has always denied that the massacre of Armenians was a
    pre-planned attempt to wipe them out and says only 500,000 were
    killed.

    Perincek "neither denied nor apologised for the massacres, nor did he
    incite hatred against the Armenians", his lawyers argued, adding that
    he only denied a "genocidal intent" on the part of the Ottoman
    authorities who ruled Turkey at the time.

    Turkey further argues that Perincek's claims cannot possibly incite
    hatred since there is no widespread hatred towards the Armenians.

    The controversy continued outside court where some 600 Turkish
    protesters had gathered, according to police, carrying Turkish flags
    and portraits of the country's modern founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
    The crowd cheered Perincek when he emerged from the court.

    Around 20 Armenians stood on the other side of the road with one
    placard reading: "No to denial -- Europe must react".

    http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/country-news/Amal-Clooney-in-court-to-condemn-Armenia-genocide-denier_447401.html



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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