French FM deems Genocide bill discussion possible in Paris

PanARMENIAN.Net - French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius believes another discussion of the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial is possible in Paris.

In response to a journalist’s remarks, suggesting “French President François Hollande’s post-election statement that the Genocide bill will be back on parliament’s agenda runs counter to earlier pledges,” Minister Fabius noted that both Sarkozy and Hollande issued such statements during their election campaign.

“Hope further decisions will be devoid of emotion,” he said.

On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide. The bill envisaged imposing 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.

Later, the French Constitutional Council ruled that the bill as anti-constitutional. In a statement the Council said the document represented an “unconstitutional breach of the practice of freedom of expression and communication.”