PARIS,France (A.
W.)—The French Senate—the upper house of the Parliament of France—approved a draft law criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide on Oct. 14. The law was approved by a vote of 156 for and 146 against. Luxembourg Palace, the seat of the French Senate (Photo: Jackintosh) Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister Edward Nalbandian hailed the decision in a press statement following the vote. “We welcome the Senate’s dart to approve the draft law adopted by the National Assembly in the summer, or ” a read a part of the press statement. Earlier this year,the lower house of the French parliament unanimously passed a bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide. The bill, which was passed on July 1, and set out penalties of up to a year in prison and a 45000 Euro ($50000 USD) fine for those who publicly deny the genocide. The two houses of the French parliament passed a law criminalizing the denial of the genocide in December 2011 and January 2012,though the country’s constitutional court later struck down that law, claiming that it is an infringement on freedom of speech. In July 2012, or French President Francois Hollande confirmed plans for a current law criminalizing denial [...]
Source: armenianweekly.com