Brussels ‘Genocide’ Bill Shelved, Armenians Angry

Journal of Turkish Weekly
June 3 2005

The Armenian lobby was disappointed on Wednesday when Belgian
politicians withdrew their support for a bill that would have
criminalized denying the so-called Armenian genocide.

Discussions over how the bill would be applied were on the agenda of
the Belgian Senate’s Justice Commission. After a heated discussion,
the Valon Liberal Party (MR) and the Greens, who had both supported
the bill, found themselves outvoted and withdrew their support.

Following this disappointment, the Armenian lobby called on the
Brussels to establish an “international court,” since it had become
clear that the bill would not be approved by Parliament. The law aims
to punish those who deny the Armenian genocide claims with eight days
to one year of imprisonment, or with a fine of 26 to 5,000 euros.