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Armenian justice official hails ECHR judgment in Perincek case

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f561fa8461b606_561fa8461b640.thumbA deputy prosecutor general of Armenia praises the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling in the case Perincek vs Switzerland, considering the outcome positive for the Armenian side.
“This ruling is a very good result for Armenia and the Armenians,” Emil Babayan told Tert.am, commenting on the Grand Chamber’s judgment delivered earlier today.
He particularly hailed the statement saying that the ECHR has no authority to make a legally binding pronouncement on a point falling within the logic of criminal law.
“First, it neutralizes the comments of those lower chamber judges who were not inclined to think that the 1915 killings of the Armenians could have amounted to a crime of genocide. The Court ruled that they do not have any authority to issue any conclusion on that point – that the lower chamber’s decision was wrong and could not have any weight or influence,” Babayan noted.
The next important point, he said, was the Chamber’s statement saying that the Armenians have a right to respect the dignity of the ancestors who suffered the Genocide. “That’s a decision of a great importance. It means that the states in Europe can punish the denial of the Armenian Genocide, if [such an act] is calculated to incite violence or disharmony. The idea behind suing Switzerland for the Perincek case was to state that he is just a stool pigeon whose words wouldn’t be taken for granted or inflict damage on anyone. [That’s why the Court ruled] that it was not necessary, in a democratic society, to subject Perincek to a criminal penalty,” he added.
Babayan cited the Chamber’s reassertion of the right to freedom of speech as the next key point in the judgment. “That means that the laws ‘insulting Turkishnes’ [Article 301 of Turkey’s Criminal Code] cannot be applied here as was the case with Hrant Dink and other Turkish and Armenian citizens who are conducting research to study Turkey’s complicity in the Genocide. So Turkey must now stop the violations against freedom of speech,” he added.