Genocide bill ruling result of bureaucratic logic - political analyst

PanARMENIAN.Net - A visiting researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington commented on recent ruling of the French Constitutional Council announcing the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial as unconstitutional.

“The ruling didn’t come as a surprise, seeing as recognition or denial of any genocide has long been politicized,” Sergei Markedonov told PanARMENIAN.Net

“The Council, as a conservative body, based its decision on political motifs. The ruling followed a bureaucratic logic. Obviously, the decision-makers were concerned that the clear-cut legal definition might lead to the issue becoming a subject of profiteering,” the expert said.

“Still, whatever the Council ruling might be, many French politicians pledged to continue the struggle. Which means the dispute over the historic justice vs. pragmatism will be continued,” the expert concluded.

On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. If signed into law by the President, the bill would 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.

The French Constitutional Council ruled that a bill recently adopted by the French Senate making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide was anti-constitutional.

In a statement the Council said the bill adopted by parliament on January 23 represented an “unconstitutional breach of the practice of freedom of expression and communication.”