Criminalization of Genocide denial irrelevant, Russian lawmaker says

PanARMENIAN.Net - The head of Russia's State Duma Profile Committee on Civil, Criminal, Arbitration and Procedural Legislation says the initiative to criminalize denial of the Armenian Genocide in response to Turkey's downing of the Russian Su-24 bomber, is irrelevant, TASS reports.

“The incident did occur, but we have to respond to the situation adequately,” Pavel Krasheninnikov said.

According to him, “it is necessary to regulate the currently existing legal relations.”

“Nobody denies the Armenian Genocide in Russia. Moreover, President [Vladimir Putin] delivered remarks during the commemorative ceremony of the Armenian Genocide centennial in Yerevan. There’s a strange connection between the criminalization and the downing of the bomber,” Krasheninnikov said.

State Duma Deputy, international law expert Vasily Likhachev called on all parties not to link the bill with the downed by the Turkish air force Russian aircraft.

“I am confident we should instead focus on historical justice, the memory of those murdered [during the Armenian Genocide] and a number of other factors,” Likhachev noted, calling for a careful examination of the bill.