Turkish Minister Says No Force Can Arrest Him Over Genocide Denial

TURKISH MINISTER SAYS NO FORCE CAN ARREST HIM OVER GENOCIDE DENIAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 7, 2012 – 12:44 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Egemen Baðýþ commented
on Swiss probe launched over his remarks on the Armenian Genocide on
his way to Brussels.

“Zurich prosecutor needn’t waste time on investigation. My remarks
that the 1915 events do not amount to Genocide are still valid,”
Bagis told journalists.

“I learnt about the investigation through media reports as you probably
did. However, there’s no force that could bring about the arrest of
any Turkish minister,” Anadolu quoted Bagis as saying.

A Zurich prosecutor on Monday, February 6 launched an investigation
into remarks by Egemen Baðýþ, Turkey’s EU affairs minister and chief
EU negotiator, after he said in Zurich that there was no Armenian
Genocide and that Swiss authorities could arrest him if they wanted to.

News about the prosecution’s move was published in the Swiss daily
Neue Zurcher Zeitung. The Zurich Chief Prosecutor’s Office launched
the investigation into Baðýþ’s remarks – which he made last month in
Zurich on his way back from the World Economic Forum at Davos – based
on a complaint filed by members of Switzerland’s Armenian community.

Zurich State Prosecutor Christine Braunschweig was quoted by the daily
as having said: “Last week we received a petition about this issue,
informing us that Mr. Baðýþ violated the anti-racism Article 261 of the
Swiss Penal Code. Our prosecutor’s office has taken this allegation
seriously and launched an investigation. We will investigate whether
Egemen Baðýþ uttered words denying the Armenian Genocide as asserted
in the petition. We will also see if he has diplomatic immunity. At
the end of this, we will press charges against him if there indeed
is a violation and if he cannot benefit from diplomatic immunity.”

From: A. Papazian