Lebanese Armenian MP thanks French envoy for genocide bill adoption

PanARMENIAN.Net - Lebanese Forces MP Shant Janjanian, a Lebanese-Armenian, delivered a thank-you letter to the French envoy to Lebanon, Denis Pietton for the adoption of the bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide, Daily Star reported.

On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. Expected to be signed into law by President within 14 days, 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.