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France Will Adopt Law Criminalizing Armenian Genocide Denial: Opinio

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  • France Will Adopt Law Criminalizing Armenian Genocide Denial: Opinio

    FRANCE WILL ADOPT LAW CRIMINALIZING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL: OPINION FROM YEREVAN

    epress.am
    02.29.2012

    France's tango has nothing to do with Armenia's interests, said
    Yerevan-based political analyst Ruben Mehrabyan, in conversation with
    Epress.am and commenting on the French Constitutional Council ruling
    that determined the genocide denial bill approved by parliament last
    year and the Senate last month was unconstitutional.

    "What's important for Armenia is relations with Turkey. How long can
    we remain at the hope of the Russians?" he asked.

    "Let this be a lesson for Armenia's authorities not to get ahead of
    themselves and not appear in such a foolish situation. We, as citizens
    of the Republic of Armenia, when both the French parliament adopted
    the legislation and the Council then rejected it, should've shown
    restraint," Mehrabyan added.

    According to him, the Constitutional Council ruling is tied with the
    current domestic situation in France and France-Turkey relations.

    Recalling the Algerian prime minister's warning to his Turkish
    counterpart, that the blood shed by Algerians shouldn't be made into
    a subject of political speculations, Mehrabyan, drawing parallels,
    said if Armenia's authorities "had a little bit of dignity, they
    wouldn't allow for similar speculations [to be made]."

    According to Armenian Center for National and International Studies
    Director of Research Manvel Sargsyan, the French court ruling could've
    been predicted, by following the opinions voiced when the bill was
    being discussed in Senate - most notably, the view that the bill
    violates freedom of expression.

    Recall, the Constitutional Court based its verdict on provisions
    of the "1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,"
    the fundamental document of the French Revolution. It said the law
    was not in line with the declaration's 6th and 11the articles, which
    highlight freedom of expression and thought, one of the main pillars
    of the democracy.

    "Of course if there was discordance on the law inside the country,
    it would be more vulnerable to pressure from the outside. Most likely,
    there was also the factor of pressure from Turkey, as well as internal
    factors in France, and as in the case of initiating any other law,
    an issue of raising politicians' ratings," said Sargsyan.

    Nevertheless, the analyst noticed France adopting the genocide bill
    is considered a matter of key importance, which is testified by the
    fact that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has already requested the
    government draft a new bill taking into consideration the Council's
    decision.

    "The French give more importance to this issue - they view it as an
    issue tied with the future of the state. Hence, they view the issue
    more seriously than Armenians. I think there will be another bill
    from France, which, of course, will be important in the international
    recognition of the Armenian Genocide," he said.
    Content-Type: MESSAGE/RFC822; CHARSET=US-ASCII
    Content-Description:

    MIME-Version: 1.0
    Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
    Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
    From: Mihran Keheyian
    Subject: France Will Adopt Law Criminalizing Armenian Genocide Denial: Opinion
    from Yerevan

    France Will Adopt Law Criminalizing Armenian Genocide Denial: Opinion
    from Yerevan

    02.29.2012 14:25 epress.am

    France?s tango has nothing to do with Armenia?s interests, said
    Yerevan-based political analyst Ruben Mehrabyan, in conversation with
    Epress.am and commenting on the French Constitutional Council ruling
    that determined the genocide denial bill approved by parliament last
    year and the Senate last month was unconstitutional.

    ?What?s important for Armenia is relations with Turkey. How long can
    we remain at the hope of the Russians?? he asked.

    ?Let this be a lesson for Armenia?s authorities not to get ahead of
    themselves and not appear in such a foolish situation. We, as citizens
    of the Republic of Armenia, when both the French parliament adopted
    the legislation and the Council then rejected it, should?ve shown
    restraint,? Mehrabyan added.

    According to him, the Constitutional Council ruling is tied with the
    current domestic situation in France and France-Turkey relations.

    Recalling the Algerian prime minister?s warning to his Turkish
    counterpart, that the blood shed by Algerians shouldn?t be made into a
    subject of political speculations, Mehrabyan, drawing parallels, said
    if Armenia?s authorities ?had a little bit of dignity, they wouldn?t
    allow for similar speculations [to be made].?

    According to Armenian Center for National and International Studies
    Director of Research Manvel Sargsyan, the French court ruling could?ve
    been predicted, by following the opinions voiced when the bill was
    being discussed in Senate ? most notably, the view that the bill
    violates freedom of expression.

    Recall, the Constitutional Court based its verdict on provisions of
    the ?1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,? the
    fundamental document of the French Revolution. It said the law was not
    in line with the declaration?s 6th and 11the articles, which highlight
    freedom of expression and thought, one of the main pillars of the
    democracy.

    ?Of course if there was discordance on the law inside the country, it
    would be more vulnerable to pressure from the outside. Most likely,
    there was also the factor of pressure from Turkey, as well as internal
    factors in France, and as in the case of initiating any other law, an
    issue of raising politicians? ratings,? said Sargsyan.

    Nevertheless, the analyst noticed France adopting the genocide bill is
    considered a matter of key importance, which is testified by the fact
    that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has already requested the
    government draft a new bill taking into consideration the Council?s
    decision.

    ?The French give more importance to this issue ? they view it as an
    issue tied with the future of the state. Hence, they view the issue
    more seriously than Armenians. I think there will be another bill from
    France, which, of course, will be important in the international
    recognition of the Armenian Genocide,? he said.

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