Journal of Turkish Weekly
May 3 2005
Swiss Prosecutor: If he comes here without testifying we will arrest
him
Celal OZCAN,
Hurriyet
Swiss prosecutor Andrej Gnehm, who has opened up a case against the
President of the Turkish History Society, Professor Halacoglu, has
said “Let him come and testify. If he doesn’t, the moment Professor
Halacoglu steps into Switzerland, we will arrest him.” Though the
Swiss Ambassador in Ankara, Walter Gyger, has said that no such
arrest would be made, Prosecutor Gnehm has repeated the intent to
arrest Halacoglu if he should so much as set foot in Switzerland.
Gnehm says that Professor Halacoglu’s denial of the Armenian genocide
is on the level of denying the Jewish Holocaust, says he wants to
ask for a 3 year prison sentence for Halacoglu. The speech given by
Halacoglu in which he publicly rejected Armenian claims of genocide was
given on May 2nd, 2004. It was later written about in Swiss newspapers.
According to the 261st amendment to the Swiss Constitution, it is a
crime against humanity to deny or misrepresent genocidal acts. Swiss
prosecutor Gnehm has stressed that the case against Halacoglu is
directly tied to the official recognition of the Armenian genocide
by the Swiss Parliament.
Attempt to get help from Interpol
Prosector Gnehm has apparently attempted to get information about
Professor Halacoglu’s whereabouts through Interpol, but was informed
that there was not enough evidence to warrant an international
arrest. Gnehm is insistent that Halacoglu present himself in
Switzerland for questioning.
3 May 2005