criminalizing Archives

Papazian: France constitutional court unlikely to reject law criminalizing denial of Armenian Genocide

July 6, 2016 by administrator

YEREVAN. – The law criminalizing the denial of genocides will make it impossible to conduct the Turkish policy of denial in France, representative of the Armenian community said.

“This was a pre-election promise of Francois Hollande, and he kept it. This is a bill to criminalize the denial of all genocides and crimes against humanity. The bill will be reviewed in September and will be mst likely adopted. With the adoption of this draft law in France, no one will any longer have the right to say that there was no Armenian Genocide, and this also applies to other genocides as well,” co-chairman of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France Mourad Papazian told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The National Assembly (NA) of France adopted the amendments proposed to the bill on “Equality and citizenship” on July 1. The amendments propose to establish 45,000 euro penalty for denying the crimes against humanity. In fact, the document specifically mentions about criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.

Asked whether it is possible that the French Constitutional Council could reject the law as it happened last time, Mr. Papazian said that this time the bill had been studied by lawyers and such an outcome is almost impossible: “We made sure that there were no gaps. We are pretty sure that this time the court will not give up. But, of course, we cannot be 100%”.

Representatives of the Armenian community of France are doing everything to ensure that in September the bill would pass the Senate. Mr. Papazian added that the Turkish side is also active in the opposite.

French parliament adopts bill criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial

July 2, 2016 by administrator

The National Assembly (NA) of France adopted the amendments proposed to the bill on “Equality and citizenship”, which President François Hollande had also promised to make.

The amendments propose to establish 45,000 euro penalty for denying the crimes against humanity, 20Minutes writes. In fact, the document specifically mentions about criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.

The bill will now be directed for adoption by Senate.

The previous law criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial in France was blocked by the country’s Constitutional Court, following which François Hollande initiated another bill.

France: According to Carpenter, the text criminalizing Holocaust denial is almost ready

June 22, 2016 by administrator

France is seriously considering adopting a new law criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide, assured yesterday the French Ambassador to Armenia, Jean-François Charpentier.

“The text is almost ready,” said Charpentier at a press conference in Yerevan. “So I think we’ll hear about it soon.”

Jean-François Charpentier explained that President Francois Hollande is behind the bill drafted by French government officials and legal experts. He emphasized that the bill would criminalize the denial of the Armenian Genocide not only, but also other genocides officially recognized by France.

The French Parliament had passed a law against denial of the Armenian Genocide in December 2011 and January 2012, under Nicolas Sarkozy. This law, hailed by Armenia but condemned by Turkey, had been declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and therefore annulled.

Hollande has promised to make a law against genocide denial during his campaign in 2012. He assured the leaders of the Armenian community of France a corresponding new bill should be drafted with greater legal certainty, so it meets the french constitutional Council.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016,
Claire © armenews.com

ECHR ex-President completes work on bill criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial in France

May 4, 2016 by administrator

Former President of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Jean-Paul Costa has completed the work on drawing out the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial in France, co-chairman of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF), Murad Papazian, told Armenian News – NEWS.am.

“Now we are already holding working consultations. By the end of the expert work, it will become clear whether we will be able to introduce this bill in the parliament or not. We must be sure that this bill will have a constitutional power,” Papazian noted, stressing that they will complete this stage by the end of May.

French President François Hollande earlier raised the issue on adopting a law criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.

Hollande: France to draft new law criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial

January 29, 2016 by administrator

PARIS. – The discussions, and with respect to the preparation of a draft law that criminalizes the denial of the Armenian Genocide, have resumed in France.

President François Hollande stated the aforesaid during the annual dinner, which was held this year on Thursday evening in Paris, by the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF).

Hollande added that he has entrusted French jurist Jean-Paul Costa, the former President of the European Court of Human Rights, in the drafting of this law, French Armenian journalist Jean Eckian told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The French president said he has instructed Costa to find in this bill a clear and incontestable way which will enable to defend the memory of the genocide victims, and that this should be done in a very short time.

Also, François Hollande reflected on the failure of a similar draft law in France in 2012, and noted that in this case, the bill needs to be invulnerable in terms of constitutionality.

Parliament of Cyprus drafts bill criminalizing denial of Genocide

March 24, 2015 by administrator

A bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide has been submitted to the parliament of Cyprus.

According to Hurriyet, the bill criminalizing denial of the Genocide, military crimes and crimes against humanity has been jointly submitted by the republic’s political parties.

Discussion of the bill, timed to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, is expected to be included in the next week’s parliamentary agenda.