French Court strikes down bill on denial of Armenian Genocide

YEREVAN. February 29, /ARKA/ France's Constitutional Council ruled on Tuesday that a law concerning the mass killings of Armenians a century ago violates the country's constitution, RIA Novosti reported. 

The law, passed in December by French parliament’s lower chamber, made it a crime to deny that the killings of some 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 constituted genocide. Punishment under the legislation was set at up to one year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros.

But the French high court ruled that the law amounts to an "unconstitutional infringement of the exercise of freedom of expression and communication."

The court said: "It is legitimate for the Parliament to institute indictments on abuse of the exercise of freedom of expression and communication that violate public order and the rights of others. However, the infringement of the exercise of this freedom -- which is a prerequisite for democracy and a guarantee of respect for other rights and freedoms -- must be necessary, appropriate and proportionate to the aim pursued."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy responded to the court ruling by ordering his government to draft a new law punishing those who deny that the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey was genocide.

Sarkozy's office noted the "great disappointment and profound sadness" of those who supported the law.

The adoption of the denial bill angered Turkey that threatened retaliation measures, while prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said that his country would never recognize that law, and he would never go to France if the bill were passed.

Earlier, French president Sarkozy sent a letter to Erdogan in which he assured him that the law was not directed against any country and urged the Turkish authorities to take into account Ankara’s common interests  with France.

France passed two laws to recognize  the Holocaust, (1990) and the Armenian Genocide (2001). The law makes it a crime the denial of the Holocaust. -0-