FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE CONFIRMS SUPPORT TO GENOCIDE BILL

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 20, 2012 – 11:06 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – French presidential candidate Francois Hollande of
the Socialist Party has confirmed his support to the bill criminalizing
denial of the Armenian Genocide.

In his interview with the French Marianne weekly, Hollande said he
is ready to vote for the bill any time.

When asked to clarify his position, Hollande said: “As to recognition
of the Armenian Genocide, I do not tend to base on the number of
people sharing the same origin and history.

The Armenian Cause has been backed by the French socialists since the
times of Jean Jaures, and Armenians arriving in France were mostly
supported by left-wing municipalities. Francois Mitterand backed the
Armenian Genocide recognition, and the law was adopted when Lionel
Jospin was Prime Minister of France.

The law should have been supplemented by introduction of
criminalization for denial of the Armenian Genocide. While opposing
it in 2006, the right-wing introduced the bill now; the timing was
not the best, I believe. However, I have voted for its text, and I
will vote for it again.”

On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the
Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. If signed
into law by President, the bill will 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.

Two separate groups of French politicians who oppose the legislation
– from both the Senate and the lower house – said they had formally
requested the constitutional council examine the law. The groups said
they each had gathered more than the minimum 60 signatures required
to ask the council to test the law’s constitutionality. The council
is obliged to deliver its judgment within a month, but this can be
reduced to eight days if the government deems the matter urgent.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress