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The Senate of France ratifies a bill criminalizing denial of so-called â€œArmenian genocideâ€

23 January 2012 22:32 (UTC +04:00)

After the long lasting discussions, majority of the senators rejected to approve opinion of the committee. 167 senators against 86 of all 253 Senators attending voting rejected the document of the committee.

Discussions beginning at the second half of the day, started with a speech of
Patrick Olliler, Minister for Relationships with Parliament.
French minister pointing out his support for the bill on behalf of French government called senators to ratify the law draft.

Then, the head of the Constitutional Committee of French Senate Jean Pierre Sueur delivered his report. The head of the Committee noted that this law is against the spirit of constitution and its values; he called senators to reject the bill.
According to Jean Pierre Sueur, ratification of this bill will oblige France to accept other genocides.
At the discussions 263 senators of total 348 attended at the Senate.
Jean Pierre Sueur giving interview to the â€œPublic Senateâ€ TV channel noted that nothing was changed and the law draft is the same since the bill was rejected on May 4, 2011.
â€œThe only changed thing is desire of French president to win elections. Besides, letâ€™s not forget that France is one of the co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group on regulation of Armenian-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict and ratification of this bill by France will create risks for doubts on Franceâ€™s biased position for this mission. As, it will not in favor of our diplomacy in South Caucasus,â€ said Jean Pierre Sueur, the head of the Constitutional committee of French Senate

France accepted officially so-called â€œArmenian genocideâ€ on January 29, 2001. The French National Assembly accepted the bill criminalizing denial of so-called Armenian genocide on October 12, 2006. But on May 4, 2011, the Senate considering the bill groundless, didnâ€™t approved the document. The National Assembly accepted the bill on December 22, 2011 again. Ratification of the bill by French senate will be considered full formal approval of the document by the parliament of France. The president of France should sign the bill as a final step for its coming into force