Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Amal Clooney: This court is well aware of Turkey’s attitude to
protection of freedom of expression

17:38 28/01/2015 >> LAW

The European Court of Human Rights hearing in the case of Perincek v.
Switzerland is closed. All parties involved in the case made remarks.
Dogu Perincek and his lawyers spoke first. Then Switzerland, the
respondent in this case, spoke, and Turkey and Armenia, acting in the
case as third party, spoke next.

Armenia’s representative to the European Court of Human Rights Gevorg
Kostanyan drew the court’s attention to a huge number of historical
facts which prove that the Ottoman Empire in the last years of its
existence “planned and cynically” perpetrated the Armenian Genocide.

Lawyer Geoffrey Robertson, representing Armenia, stressed that Dogu
Perincek traveled to Switzerland in 2005 with an aim to deliberately
violate the Swiss law by making a statement denying the Armenian
Genocide.

Amal Clooney, who defends Armenia’s interests, presented irrefutable
historical facts about the Armenian Genocide, noting that the facts of
mass killings obviously confirm that what happened in 1915 was
genocide and the organizers pursued a goal to perpetrate genocide.

In response to the remarks by the representatives of Turkey about the
need to defend the freedom of expression, she said, “This court is
well aware of Turkey’s attitude to the protection of freedom of
expression,” referring to the hundreds of cases under Article 10 of
the European Convention on Human Rights.

Dogu Perincek in his closing remarks tried to present his views about
the “Armenian Genocide – an imperialist lie,” but the court chairman
interrupted him, not allowing him to make such statements as “Talaat
was a fighter of freedom” and use the court for spreading propaganda
theses.

The verdict in the case is expected to be announced in 6-8 months.

In 2008, a Swiss court convicted Dogu Perincek for denying the
Armenian Genocide. In December 2013, the ECHR ruled in favor of
Perincek’s lawsuit, filed against Switzerland. Then the government of
Switzerland decided to petition that the Dogu Perincek case be
referred for a review by the ECHR Grand Chamber. Later, Armenia
petitioned to the ECHR and it now acts as a third party in this case.

Interfax, Russia
Jan 27 2015

Armenian DM: Yerevan-Moscow relations to be unaffected by Gyumri tragedy

YEREVAN. Jan 27

The killing of seven people in Gyumri, northern Armenia, by a Russian
serviceman cannot divide Yerevan and Moscow, Armenian Defense Minister
Seyran Ohanian said.

“The Gyumri events cannot drive a wedge between us. Our cooperation
with the Russian military base is strong. Exercises are consistent
with our operative and combat plans demonstrate the readiness for
joint provision of Armenia’s security,” Ohanian said at a press
conference on Tuesday.

“I have said before and I repeat that the Armenian army has no problem
[dealing with] Azerbaijan. The presence of the Russian military base
in Armenia is solving a more global problem of regional security,
especially considering Turkey’s military presence,” he said.

The Russian military base in Armenia “has done a lot in recent years
to build up its combat readiness and to procure new types of weapons,”
the minister said.

Six members of a family, including a 24-month-old child, were murdered
in Gyumri on January 12. Six-month-old Seryozha Avetisian was taken to
hospital with a stab wound. He died on January 19.

Armenia accused Russian serviceman Valery Permyakov of killing seven
people to which he confessed.

Te mk

Zoryan Institute
George Shirinian, Executive Director
255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310
Toronto, ON
Canada M3B 3H9
Tel: 416-250-9807
Fax: 416-512-1736

PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Shannon Scully
DATE: January 28, 2015
TEL: 416-250-9807

European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber hears
Perinçek v. Switzerland case

Strasbourg, France-The European Court of Human Rights held a Grand Chamber
hearing today, Wednesday, January 28, 2015 at 9.15 a.m. in Strasbourg,
France on the case of Perinçek v. Switzerland (application no. 27510/08).
The case concerns the criminal conviction of Turkish politician Doðu
Perinçek for publicly denying the Armenian Genocide while in Switzerland.
On March 9, 2007, the Lausanne Police Court had convicted Mr. Perinçek of
racial discrimination under Article 261 bis, Paragraph 4 of the Swiss
Criminal Code, finding that his motives were of a racist tendency and did
not merely contribute to a historical debate. After exhausting his appeals,
which were dismissed at various levels of the Swiss courts including the
Federal Court of Switzerland, Mr. Perinçek’s appealed to the ECHR on June
10, 2008.

View the trial on the ECHR website: by clicking on
Webcast, Perinçek v. Switzerland (no. 27510/08)

The International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (IIGHRS)
(A Division of the Zoryan Institute) was represented as observers at the
Grand Chamber, by its President, Mr. K.M. Greg Sarkissian and Mr. R.
Bedrosyan, an advisor to the Zoryan Institute on Turkish-Armenian issues.
They had worked jointly with the Human Rights Association of Turkey and the
Truth Justice Memory Centre to submit a third party amicus brief, for which
this Armenian-Turkish coalition had been granted leave by the Grand Chamber.

According to Payam Akhavan, the lawyer representing a coalition of Turkish
and Armenian human rights associations:

We have emphasized that the case is not about the historical truth as such.
>From the perspective of human rights law, freedom of expression under
Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, is subjected to
certain limitations. One of those is when speech amounts to incitement to
discrimination and hatred. So debates about the historical truth or legal
classification of atrocities as genocide or some other label are not the
real issue. The fundamental issue is whether Perinçek’s statements when
considered in their proper context constitute incitement to discrimination
and hatred.

The Applicant, Mr. Doðu Perinçek, Chairman of the Socialist Workers Party of
Turkey, with ties to the nationalist Talat Pasha Organization, stated the
following:

We are here for the freedom of expression of the people of Europe. I have
always shared the pain of our Armenian nationals…Genocide allegations have
turned into a tool to humiliate the Turks.

Mr. Perinçek had travelled to Switzerland to speak at a conference and made
public appearances wherein he referred to the Armenian Genocide as an
“international lie” and defended his position during today’s hearing as
follows:

This is an imperialist lie, an international lie. It’s been brought to the
fore by the Imperialist powers – they were the parties to the First World
War, they were against the Ottoman Empire which was basically why such a
propaganda was started against the Ottoman Empire.

Frank Schurmann, the lawyer representing Switzerland, stressed that
Perinçek’s statements amounted to hate speech against Armenians. Mr.
Schurmann substantiated this by referring to the written submission jointly
prepared by the IIGHRS and the two Turkish NGOs which documented Perinçek’s
racist and anti-Armenian activities in Turkey.

Mr. Gevorg Kostanyan, prosecutor general of Armenia and Agent representing
the government of Armenia during the proceedings, said:

As an intervener, Armenia’s role is to point to the correct principles under
which this case should be decided and to indicate errors that have infected
the lower court judgment. Whether or not its conclusion was correct does not
matter, as much as certain misstatements of fact, which have comforted
genocide deniers throughout the world. We are here to ensure that such
errors should never be repeated by a court that speaks in the name of human
rights.

Mr. Geoffrey Robertson, Counsel representing the Armenian Government, began
his argument by referring to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human
Rights:

It sets up a presumption in favour of free speech, in a Convention that
protects other rights to human dignity, to live free of torture and
discrimination, to say “I am Jewish,” “I am Muslim,” or “I am Armenian,”
without fear that the race we happen to be born into will be stigmatised as
inferior or sub-human.

He also referred to “egregious errors” made by the Lower Chamber, which he
urged the Grand Chamber not to repeat. Mr. Robertson summed up the key issue
in the case as follows:

The issue in this case is whether the Swiss law, under which this man,
Perinçek, was convicted.conforms to the Freedom of Expression Guarantee
under Article 10 of the European Convention.Article 10 has its proviso,
which permits speech to be restrained by law on those occasions when it’s
likely to and intended to, cause harm to incite racial violence or hatred.
Now, in the mouth of a rabid racist with a doctorate in law and a political
party at his back, and people waving flags and fists outside this Court now,
genocide denial can have a double impact: It makes the survivors of
genocide and their children and grandchildren feel the worthlessness and
contempt and inferiority that the initial perpetrators intended, and it
incites admiration for those perpetrators and a dangerous desire to emulate
them. In this case, the Swiss courts decided that Perinçek’s intentions
were racist.that his words in the Turkish language were designed to arouse
his supporters in Turkey to hate Armenians and applaud his hero, Talat
Pasha, the Ottoman Hitler.

Mrs. Amal Alamuddin-Clooney, also representing Armenia, made her opening
statement thusly,

The most important error in the Court’s judgment is that it has cast doubt
on the fact that there was a genocide against the Armenian people 100 years
ago. I will argue that a finding on genocide was first, not necessary in
this case; second, that it was reached without a proper forensic process;
and third and most importantly – that it was wrong. The court itself
admitted that it was “not required to determine” whether the massacres
suffered by Armenians amounted to genocide…

She pointed out that the Ottoman military courts convicted the principal
perpetrators, including Talat Pasha, for the mass murders rather than
genocide because the word had not yet been invented. In her concluding
remarks, Mrs. Alamuddin-Clooney stated:

Armenia, as a third party intervening in this case, has not made submissions
on the merits and is not here to argue against freedom of expression – any
more than Turkey is here to defend it. This court knows very well how
disgraceful Turkey’s record on free expression is.So although this case
involves a Turkish citizen, Armenia has every interest in ensuring that its
own citizens do not get caught in a net that criminalizes speech too
broadly. And the family of Mr. Hrant Dink know that all too well.The stakes
could not be higher for the Armenian people. The decision you are reviewing
was a serious step in the wrong direction. Perinçek and his colleagues on
the Talat Pasha Committee, the committee named after the principal
perpetrators of the Genocide and deemed by the European Parliament to be
xenophobic, have celebrated the judgment in its current terms and
triumphantly proclaimed that it has solved the ‘Armenian Question’ once and
for all…We hope that the Grand Chamber will set the record straight.

The IIGHRS and its Turkish coalition partners hope that the Grand Chamber of
the European Court of Human Rights indeed sets the record straight by
confirming that the case is about the speech by Perinçek with the intent of
incitement to discrimination and hatred and not a debate about historical
truth or of a legal classification of genocide.

The Grand Chamber is expected to render its judgment in approximately 6 to 8
months.

The Zoryan Institute and its subsidiary, the International Institute for
Genocide and Human Rights Studies, is the first non-profit, international
center devoted to the research and documentation of contemporary issues with
a focus on Genocide, Diaspora and Armenia.

For more information please contact the Zoryan Institute by email
[email protected] or telephone 416-250-9807.

Southern Minnesota
Jan 28 2015

Amal Clooney on legal team in Armenian genocide case

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Lawyer Amal Clooney went before Europe’s top
human rights court Wednesday to argue against a man convicted of
denying the 1915 Armenian genocide.

Clooney is representing Armenia as part of an appeal before the
Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, which ruled in favor
of the man, Dogu Perincek, in December 2013.

Perincek believes his right to free speech was violated when Swiss
courts convicted him of racism for denying the genocide in 2005. He
described the genocide as “an international lie.”

Clooney said the “most important error” of the court’s 2013 ruling in
favor of Perincek was that “it cast doubt on the reality of the
Armenian genocide.”

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by
genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey,
however, denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has
been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and
unrest.

The court said its decision would be made at a later date.

Amal Clooney, who married actor George Clooney last year, has also
argued on behalf of Greece for the return of the so-far unsuccessful
campaign to reclaim the Parthenon Sculptures from Britain.

International Business Times
Jan 28 2015

Amal Clooney Armenian Genocide Case: 5 Things To Know About DoÄ?u
Perinçek Hearing

By Julia Glum

High-profile human rights lawyer Amal Clooney went up against DoÄ?u
Perinçek Wednesday in a France court hearing involving the racial
discrimination case of the Turkish Workers’ Party chairman who claimed
the Armenian genocide never happened. Here are five things you need to
know about the hearing:

1. The players: Clooney and Geoffrey Robertson represented Armenia on
behalf of Doughty Street Chambers, the British law firm they work for.
“Armenia must have its day in court. The stakes could not be higher
for the Armenian people,” Clooney said, according to the Telegraph.

The case revolved around Perinçek, who was convicted in 2007 for
denying the Armenian genocide. The European Court of Human Rights
overturned that conviction in December on grounds that his right to
free speech was violated, and Armenia filed an appeal. Turkey was a
co-defendant in the case.

2. The background: As many as 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands
of the Ottoman Turks from 1915 to 1923, the Associated Press reported.
Turkey has argued that the death toll was not only exaggerated but
also a result of civil war — not genocide.

Perinçek has said that although there were widespread deaths, they
don’t fall under the legal term “genocide,” according to Today’s
Zaman. During a 2005 demonstration in Switzerland, he called the
incident “an international lie.” Denying the genocide is illegal under
Swiss anti-racism laws. He was arrested and later convicted in 2007.

Perinçek appealed that decision and won in the European Court of Human
Rights last December. The court said he was just exercising his right
to free speech, but this ruling “casts doubt on the reality of
genocide that the Armenian people suffered a century ago,” Clooney
said Wednesday. Perinçek took an opposing stance, telling the court
that “we are here for the freedom [of expression] of the people of
Europe.”

3. The hearing: Wednesday’s hearing lasted more than two hours in
Strasbourg, France. Clooney took the 17-member Grand Chamber through
Armenia’s history and said that the court had neglected to review the
relevant evidence and witnesses, Today’s Zaman reported. About 200
Perinçek supporters gathered outside. The Grand Chamber will announce
its decision at a later date.

4. The implications: The principal issue was freedom of speech in
Europe, where many countries have criminalized the refusal to
recognize the Armenian massacres as “genocide,” Reuters reported.
France has faced legal battles in the past three years for adopting a
law that makes it illegal to deny it.

Clooney refuted the idea that the hearing was an effort to limit free
speech. “Armenia is not here to argue against freedom of expression
any more than Turkey is here to defend it,” she said.

5. The fame: Clooney, who’s become famous since marrying American
actor George Clooney, was surprised by the “rows of paparazzi” in
court Wednesday, the Telegraph reported. Amal recently made headlines
for donning white gloves at the Golden Globes, but when asked
Wednesday what she was wearing, she joked it was barrister’s robes.
`It is not about white gloves or yachts,” her colleague Robertson
said. “It puts the record straight. She is a human rights lawyer.”

Breitbart.com
Jan 28 2015

Persecuted Christians Join Yazidis in Iraq’s Fight Against ISIS

by Dr. Phyllis Chesler
28 Jan 2015NYC0

The savage Muslim persecution of Assyrian Christians and Yazidi
(Zoroastrian/Hindus) by Sunni Muslims in the Middle East and in Shiite
Iran has reached fever-pitch. ISIS has systematically murdered,
tortured, captured, and enslaved Yazidi girls and women. They have
done likewise to the Assyrians in Syria and Iraq. Iran has persecuted
Assyrians as well.

In terms of ISIS in Syria and Iraq: It is important to note that
Western-born and Western-raised fighters have joined these barbaric
warriors. This is a dangerous phenomenon because these fighters are
choosing barbarism over civilization.

Last week, two Yazidi women managed, miraculously, to recently escape
their captors. Their information is very valuable. Through them we
learn the following:

Jihadists from Australia, who went to fight for ISIS in Syria,
captured and enslaved these two Yazidi women, raped them continually,
and threatened them with sale into sex slavery or even death if they
did not “marry” their rapists. These Australian-born Jihadists had
other wives and children who were being indoctrinated into a barbarian
Jihadist culture.

The point here is that these fighters obviously rejected Western
Australian values. Khaled Sharrouf, one of the Australian-born
terrorists of Lebanese origin, has a long history of mental illness
and criminality. His companion-in-Jihad, Sydney-born Mohamed Elomar,
also of Lebanese origin, was a championship boxer, until he became
radicalized about 10 years ago when he joined the Global Islamic Youth
Centre (GIYC) in Liverpool, Australia, where notorious hate-preacher
Sheikh Feiz Mohammad led prayers. Feiz was supposedly an inspiration
to one of the Boston Marathon bombers.

Assyrians are Christians. During World War I, 750,000 Assyrians (75%
of their population) were killed, along with 1.5 million Armenians and
500,000 Pontic Greeks, by Turks and Kurds. On March 10, 2010, the
Swedish parliament officially recognized the Assyrian genocide.
However, the current Swedish government has yet to adopt the
recognition and make it part of official Swedish politics in its
dealings with Turkey.

Therefore, on Sunday, January 25, more than 2,000 Assyrians marched
through six cities in Sweden, for genocide recognition. More marches
marking the centennial of the genocide are planned.

There are less than 20,000 Assyrians left in Iran, and they are
recognized officially as a minority group in parliament. In Iran,
Assyrian Christians are permitted to practice their religion in their
native language (a derivation of Aramaic). Ayatollah Ali Khamenei even
sent out Christmas Day tweets that called on people to “truly honor
Jesus’ birthday.” However, on Christmas, 2014, the Islamic Republic of
Iran’s Revolutionary Court raided the home of an Assyrian pastor in
Tehran and arrested everyone there. The guards, operating under Sharia
Law, separated the men and women, and confiscated Bibles, mobile
phones, identification papers, computers, and books. Iran’s Basij
(“morality police”) arrested nine other Christians on Christmas.

Today, I had the privilege of speaking with David Lazar, the
American-Iraqi chairman of the American Mesopotamian Organization, a
group dedicated to advancing the rights of Assyrians globally. Since
ISIS invaded northern Iraq’s Nineveh plain, Lazar has been in daily
contact with his people, monitoring and directing humanitarian aid and
logistics.

Although the situation on the ground is fluid, complex, and highly
intense, David Lazar called for a “confederated Iraq with internal
borders.” He clarified that if “Iraqi Sunnis want to live under Sharia
law,” which will allow them to “marry their daughters when they are
nine years [old],” they can rule themselves–but not Christians or
others who want to live under “civilized laws.” He believes that
Swiss-style cantons can exist in a new Iraq, one that allows the Kurds
to have an independent state.

Lazar cautioned the Kurds against “independence, since that would put
them at the mercy of the Turks or the Iranians.”

Lazar described a new volunteer unit of Assyrian young men, nearly 600
strong, who are about to be trained by Iraqi and private Western
security specialists so that they can play a role in the spring
offensive against ISIS.

Lazar expects a “new Iraq” to emerge, with a “modified Constitution.”
He stressed that the Assyrians and the Yazidis have a long history of
peaceful co-operation in Iraq. “We have never killed each other, we
are peaceful, we have no issues,” he said.

He noted that Assyrians have not been receiving any of the necessary
aid that other groups receive, such as the Kurds or the Iraqi forces
fighting ISIS. Nevertheless, Lazar believes that a new Iraq will be
seen “after June 10th of this year.”

I asked Lazar about Assyrian women. I did not want to ask outright
about whether they had been kidnapped or sold into sexual slavery like
the Yazidi women. There is some evidence that this may be the case.
His answer was this:

Assyrian women are strong-willed, they are the backbone of the
household, most are educated, business owners, and professionals.
There will be women fighters as part of the Nineveh Province
Protection Unit (NPU) in the coming months if not weeks.”

This interview was arranged by the Endowment for Middle East Truth
(EMET) and I thank them for this opportunity.

US Fed News
January 27, 2015 Tuesday 2:09 PM EST

WIPO PUBLISHES PATENT OF BEAM ENGINEERING FOR ADVANCED MEASUREMENTS,
BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY AND “YEREVAN STATE UNIVERSITY” STATE
NON-COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATION FOR “THE METHOD FOR REGISTRATION OF
CHANGES OF POLARIZATION STATE OF MONOCHROMATIC LIGHT RADIATION”
(ARMENIAN, AMERICAN INVENTORS)

GENEVA

GENEVA, Jan. 27 — Publication No. WO/2015/006788 was published on Jan. 22.

Title of the invention: “THE METHOD FOR REGISTRATION OF CHANGES OF
POLARIZATION STATE OF MONOCHROMATIC LIGHT RADIATION.” Applicants:
“YEREVAN STATE UNIVERSITY” STATE NON-COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATION (AM),
BEAM ENGINEERING FOR ADVANCED MEASUREMENTS CO. (US) and BROOKHAVEN
NATIONAL LABORATORY (US). Inventors: Hakob Margaryan (AM), Vladimir
Aroutiounian (AM), Nune Hakobyan (AM), David Hovhannisyan (AM),
Artashes Movsisyan (AM), Petros Gasparyan (AM) and Nelson Tabirian
(US). According to the abstract* posted by the World Intellectual
Property Organization: “The invention refers to optics, in particular
to the development of a new method for optical measurements.

Possible fields of the invention application are: polarimetry,
spectropolarimetry and ellipsometry. The invention proposes a method
for registration of changes in monochromatic light beam polarization,
based on using an axial symmetric liquid crystal phase retarder and a
polarization diffraction grating. The radial symmetric phase retarder
allows to create a unique correspondence between the state of incident
beam polarization vector and the intensity distribution of the radial
symmetric beam passed through the polarization diffraction grating
placed after the retarder. In the proposed method for registration of
changes in a monochromatic light beam polarization the state of
polarization vector is determined by values of Stokes’ parameters,
obtained by a single measurement.” The patent was filed on Nov. 15,
2013 under Application No. PCT/AM2013/000005. *For further
information, including images, charts and tables, please visit:

Genocide Education Project establishes course at University of Rhode Island

12:43, 28 Jan 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The University of Rhode Island is offering “The Armenian Experience:
History and Culture,” a course on Armenian history, at its Kingston
campus for the spring 2015 semester, beginning Jan. 26, Asbarez
reports.

As part of its “GenEd-HigherEd” initiative, The Genocide Education
Project Rhode Island branch co-chairs, Pauline Getzoyan and Esther
Kalajian, developed and proposed the honors seminar course, which went
through a rigorous approval process by the university during the fall
semester. Getzoyan and Kalajian will teach the course, which will
focus on diasporan studies as they relate to the Armenian experience.
Topics will include an understanding of genocide and the implications
of genocide on culture, identity, and religion.

The course will include a robust offering of guest speakers, including
author Chris Bohjalian and filmmaker Talin Avakian, who will speak
about “Literature and Film: An Author’s and Filmmaker’s Responsibility
to Truth – Exploring history, fiction, and non-fiction;” Tom
Zorabedian, Assistant Dean of the URI College of Arts and Sciences and
the Harrington School of Communication and Media; Dr. Catherine Sama,
professor of Italian at URI, who will speak about Armenians in the
diaspora with a focus on Italy and about the subject of genocide in
Italian literature and film; George Aghjayan and author/professor
Marian MacCurdy, who will be part of a panel discussing “The Aftermath
of Genocide: the Issue of Denial and Justice Specific to the Armenian
Genocide;” Berge Zobian, owner of Gallery/Studio Z in Providence, RI,
who will introduce the students to Armenian art and architecture, pre-
and post-Genocide; and Charles Kalajian, who will introduce the
students to Armenian musical instruments and the aural tradition of
learning music, with assistance from Ken Kalajian and Leon Janikian.

“This course, which coincides with the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide, is the realization of a ten-year-long dream for us,
as genocide education advocates in the state of Rhode Island,” said
Pauline Getzoyan. “Through this course, we intend to convey to
students the many layers of history and social experience surrounding
the Armenian Genocide and its aftermath. In doing so, we not only
honor the memory of the victims, but we seek to help students make
more informed choices as they become global citizens confronted with
related issues.”

Amal Clooney accuses Turkey of hypocrisy on freedom of speech in
Armenian genocide trial

17:14, 28 Jan 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The human rights lawyer, representing Armenia, criticised Turkey’s
double standards on freedom of expression.

Amal Clooney, the human rights lawyer, has accused Turkey of double
standards on freedom of expression for defending a Turkish Leftist who
called the Armenian genocide an `international lie,’ The Daily
Telegraph.

The barrister, who is representing Armenia on behalf of Doughty Street
Chambers along with Geoffrey Robertson QC, said Turkey’s stance was
hypocritical `because of [its] record on freedom of expression’.

Mrs Clooney took on the case against DoÄ?u Perinçek, chairman of the
Turkish Workers’ Party, who was found guilty of racial discrimination
in Switzerland in 2007, but had his conviction overturned by the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Switzerland has laws against the denial of the genocide as part of its
anti-racism laws but the ECHR ruled that Mr Perinçek’s Article 10
right to freedom of speech was violated when Mr Perinçek made his
claims.

Three countries ban the denial of freedom of speech including Greece,
Slovakia and Switzerland. A French law was overturned on free speech
grounds in the country’s constitutional court.

During the ECHR case, the Turkish government also submitted written
comments as a third party questioning the veracity of the genocide.
Now Armenia is a third-party in the case and is appealing the ECHR
decision.

Mrs Clooney told the Strasbourg court’s 17-member Grand Chamber on
Wednesday she wanted to correct the record on the Armenian genocide
because the previous ruling `cast doubt on the reality of genocide
that the Armenian people suffered a century ago’.

`Armenia must have its day in court. The stakes could not be higher
for the Armenian people,’ she added.

Mr Perinçek had said in 2005 that calling the 1915 massacres and
deportations of Armenian a genocide was an `international lie’, but
did not dispute that the killings had taken place on a smaller scale.

The ECHR upheld his right to question in a `debate of clear public
interest’ without ruling on whether massacres were a genocide, a
policy of deliberate extermination by Turks, or not in December 2013.

The European judges concluded that there was not a `general consensus’
on whether what happened was a genocide.

Four and half minutes into her evidence of the historical record
concerning events in 1915, including Ottoman Empire admissions of war
crimes, the barrister was asked to conclude by the judges.

`Mrs Clooney may I draw your attention to the fact that the Armenian
government has gone over the time allocated, so I ask you to
conclude,’ said Dean Spielmann, the president of the court.

She insisted that Armenia did not want to limit free speech or
historical debate and accused Turkey of having double standards
because it’s own poor record on freedom of expression.

`Armenia is not here to argue against freedom of expression anymore
than Turkey is here to defend it. This court knows very well how
disgraceful Turkey’s record on freedom of expression is. You have
found against the Turkish government in 224 separate cases on freedom
of expression grounds,’

The Lebanese lawyer made a reference to Hrant Dink, the
Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor, who was prosecuted by Turkey for
inviting that the 1915 massacres were genocide.

Mr Dink was then assassinated by a Turkish nationalist in 2007 for his
views and ethnicity as an Armenian.

`Armenia has every interest in ensuring that its win citizens do not
get caught in a net that criminalises speech too broadly. As the
family of Hrant Dink know about all too well,’ she said.

Asked about the feverish speculation about what she would be wearing,
Mrs Clooney laughed and pointed to her barrister’s robes.

`I’m wearing Ede and Ravenscroft,’ she told the Telegraph, in a
reference to famous English company of legal robe makers and tailors
since 1689.

Mr Robertson QC, was surprised at the rows of paparazzi when they
arrived in court after she was mobbed in Greece after being involved
in the Elgin marbles case.

`It is not about white gloves or yachts. It puts the record straight,
she is a human rights lawyer,’ he said.

Expert: Armenian law-enforcers are not involved in Permyakov case
investigation to full extent

by Karina Manukyan
Tuesday, January 27, 21:51

“I am not sure that Armenian law enforcers are involved in the
Permyakov case investigation to the full extent”, Stepan Grigoryan,
Head of the Council of the Analytical Centre on Globalization and
Regional Cooperation, said at today’s press conference.

He said that some questions about the murder of the Avetisyans’ family
in Gyumri remain without answers. It remains unclear how Permyakov
was able to shoot 6 people dead all by himself given that those people
were in different rooms. In this light, Grigoryan does not rule out
that other people may be behind the crime.

In addition, it is not clear yet who exactly caught Permyakov on the
Armenian-Turkish border. “If he was caught by the Armenian
law-enforcers, why did they give him to the Russian 102nd military
base in Gyumri? If Permyakov was caught by the Russian frontier
guards, why didn’t they transfer him to the relevant bodies?” said
Grigoryan. He added that the given issue is not even being discussed
officially.

The expert recalled that the Russian 102nd base in Gyumri is not the
territory of the Russian Federation de jure. So, the talks about the
need to transfer Permyakov to the Armenian side sound at least
strange, because he is all the same in the territory of Armenia. “I do
not see that Armenia’s relevant bodies display a serious approach to
the full investigation of the crime committed in Gyumri”, he said.

On Jan 12, 6 members of the Avetisyans’ family were murdered in
Gyumri. Though 2 weeks have passed since the day of the murder, the
investigation has not yet reasonably explained the reasons why Valery
Permyakov could commit that horrible crime. At the moment, the
criminal is staying in the territory of the Russian 102nd military
base and the residents of Gyumri still demand transferring Permyakov
to Armenian law-enforcers. The only survivor of the Jan 12 tragedy,
6-month-old Seryozha Avetisyan, died of stab wounds on Jan 19.