GENOCIDE BILL TO PASS FRENCH SENATE VOTE DESPITE ROADBLOCK
Tert.am
19.01.12
A French Senate committee on Wednesday rejected a bill to outlaw
denial of the Armenian genocide, but the move was unlikely to stop
the bill passing at a final vote on Monday, AFP reported.
The French lower house approved the law last month, threatening
anyone who denies that the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turk
forces amounted to genocide with jail, drawing a threat of sanctions
from Turkey.
Ankara froze political and military ties with France when the bill was
passed by the National Assembly, and has threatened further measures
if it continues through the Senate or is approved by President
Nicolas Sarkozy.
The Senate’s Laws Commission approved a motion on Wednesday rejecting
the bill as inadmissible by 23 votes for, nine against and eight
abstentions.
A plenary Senate session on Monday will now vote on the committee’s
motion, but most senators opposed to the bill are expected to abstain,
allowing the Senate to take a final vote on the bill itself.
France recognized the Genocide in 2001, but the new bill would go
further, by punishing anyone who denies this with a year in jail and
a fine of 45,000 euros ($57,000).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
