French Senate Constitution Commission opposes Genocide bill
The Constitutional Commission of the French Senate took a decision against debating the bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian genocide.
The decision was taken with 23 votes for, 9 against and 8 abstentions.
However, the bill will be debated by the Senate at the general meeting on January 23, considering the proposal of the Commission prior to the overall voting. If the Senate adopts the proposal, the draft law on criminalization of denial of "Armenian genocide" will be excluded from the agenda and will not be put to the vote.
Kiro Manoyan, Head of ARF-D Bureau's Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office, was not surprised at the Commission's decision.
"We expected the Commission to reject the bill since it used to reject similar draft laws in the past. However, the Senate will consider the bill and we expect positive results," said Mr. Manoyan.
On December 23, 2011, French National Assembly passed a bill criminalizing public denial of the Armenian Genocide. The bill immediately sparked uproar in Ankara and Paris. If signed into law, the bill would impose a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.
