Foreign

Home page

Foreign

ECHR sustains appeal of Turkish politician convicted for denial of so-called â€œArmenian genocideâ€ in Switzerland

17 December 2013 12:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku – APA. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) sustained the appeal of Workers’ Party (Ä°P) Chairman DoÄŸu Perinçek convicted for denial of so-called “Armenian genocide” in Switzerland against this country, APA reports.

The original case emerged from Perinçek’s participation in a number of conferences in Switzerland in 2005, during which he publicly denied that the Ottoman Empire had perpetrated the crime of genocide against the Armenian people in 1915. The Lausanne Police Court found Perinçek guilty of racial discrimination on March 9, 2007, based on the Swiss Criminal Code, after a complaint filed by the Switzerland-Armenia Association.

Perinçek had complained that Swiss courts had breached his freedom of expression, based on Article 10 covering freedom of expression. ECHR sustained the appeal and demanded defense from Switzerland and asked about the Turkish government's attitude towards this issue. Finally, Perinçek’s appeal was found justified.

The decision of the European Court of Human Rights will reportedly be a precedent for the Council of Europe member states. It is a serious blow to the Armenian Diaspora and lobby. Armenian lobby is trying to adopt a law criminalizing the denial of so-called "Armenian genocide" in many countries, including France. Though this kind of law adopted in France was abolished by the Constitutional Council, the Armenians want to re-enact this law.