French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked the government to prepare a new
law on criminalizing genocide denial. The call came less than an hour after the
French Constitutional Council issued a statement on February 28, 2012, considering the bill penalizing
the denial of genocides unconstitutional with the argument that it curbs freedom of
speech.
The bill would have rendered punishable the denial of genocides France has
officially recognized, like the Armenian Genocide. France already has a law in
place penalizing Holocaust denial.
Turkey welcomed the ruling of the Constitutional Council. Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the cabinet would meet to consider restarting
contacts with France, which were frozen after the French parliament passed the
bill on January 23, reported Reuters.
On February 1, Sarkozy vowed to redraft a law that criminalizes the denial of
the Armenian Genocide, if the country’s highest judicial body finds an earlier
version unconstitutional. While making the statement, Sarkozy reportedly
criticized those in cabinet who had opposed the bill, saying they “did not see
past the ends of their noses.”
He also said a rejection of the bill by the Constitutional Council could open
the door to questioning a law that penalizes denial of the Holocaust.
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