U.S. publisher ironically suggests Turkey accord immunity to its citizens

PanARMENIAN.Net - Publisher of The California Courier Harut Sassounian published an article on recent remarks of Turkey's EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bağış on the Armenian Genocide issue.

“It does not take much courage to hide behind the cover of diplomatic immunity and make Don Quixotic statements, challenging the laws of other countries. If Minister Bağış were truly a macho man, he would waive his immunity, go to Switzerland, and publicly deny the Armenian Genocide. However, it appears that the feisty Minister has chickened out! The real reason for the Minister’s abrupt change of heart is his fear of getting arrested should the Swiss prosecutor rule that his diplomatic immunity does not protect him from the crime of genocide denial,” Mr. Sassounian writes.

“While Minister Bağış has diplomatic immunity, the rest of Turkey’s population does not enjoy such a privilege. It may be a good idea to accord immunity to all 72 million Turks in order to shield them from prosecution, when they utter the words "Armenian Genocide" in Turkey!” he goes on.

On February 6, a Zurich prosecutor launched an investigation into remarks by Bağış, after he said in Zurich that there was no Armenian Genocide and that Swiss authorities could arrest him if they wanted to.

Zurich State Prosecutor Christine Braunschweig was quoted as saying: “Last week we received a petition about this issue, informing us that Mr. Bağış violated the anti-racism Article 261 of the Swiss Penal Code. Our prosecutor's office has taken this allegation seriously and launched an investigation. We will investigate whether Egemen Bağış uttered words denying the Armenian Genocide as asserted in the petition. We will also see if he has diplomatic immunity. At the end of this, we will press charges against him if there indeed is a violation and if he cannot benefit from diplomatic immunity.”

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.