ECHR to issue final verdict on Perincek v. Switzerland case Oct. 15

ECHR to issue final verdict on Perincek v. Switzerland case Oct. 15

PanARMENIAN.Net - The European Court of Human Rights will be delivering a Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Perincek v. Switzerland (application no. 27510/08) at a public hearing on Thursday, October 15, 2015 at 11.45 a.m. in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, ECHR website reports.

The case concerns the criminal conviction of a Turkish politician for publicly expressing the view, in Switzerland, that the mass deportations and massacres suffered by the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and the following years had not amounted to genocide.

In 2005 Perincek participated in three public events in Switzerland, in the course of which he expressed the view that the mass deportations and massacres suffered by the Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 onwards had not amounted to genocide.

The Switzerland-Armenia Association lodged a criminal complaint against Perincek on account of the statement made at the first event. The investigation was later expanded to cover the two other statements as well. On March 9, 2007 the Lausanne District Police Court found him guilty of the offence under Article 261 bis § 4 of the Swiss Criminal Code, holding in particular that his motives appeared to be racist and nationalistic and that his statements did not contribute to the historical debate. The court ordered him to pay 90 day-fines of 100 Swiss francs each, suspended for two years, a fine of 3,000 Swiss francs, which could be replaced by 30 days imprisonment, and 1,000 Swiss francs in compensation to the Switzerland-Armenia Association for non-pecuniary damage.

Perincek appealed against the judgment, seeking to have it set aside and additional investigative measures taken to establish the state of research and the positions of historians on the events of 1915 and the following years. The Criminal Cassation Division of the Vaud Cantonal Court dismissed the appeal on June 13, 2007. The Federal Court dismissed a further appeal by Perinçek in a judgment of December 12, 2007.

Perincek complains that his criminal conviction and punishment for having publicly stated that there had not been an Armenian Genocide was in breach of his right to freedom of expression under Article 10. He also complains, relying on Article 7 (no punishment without law), that the wording of Article 261 bis § 4 of the Swiss Criminal Code is too vague.

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