Zaman, Turkey
May 12 2006

Belgium Discusses ‘Penalizing Genocide Denial’
By Vedat Denizli, Brussels
Published: Friday, May 12, 2006
zaman.com

A legislative proposal similar to the bill pending at the French
parliament that would criminalize denial of the so-called Armenian
genocide is trying to make its way onto the agenda of the Belgium
Senate.

In the new bill presented to the Senate, Francois Roelands du Vivier
and Christine Defraigne, senators of the joint government party
Reform Movement (MR), suggested the so-called Armenian genocide be
considered within the framework of the Holocaust Law and that those
who deny the so-called genocide be punished with one year
imprisonment and fined about 5,000.

The Belgium Parliament had shelved similar bills and various
proposals after discussions last year.

Fatma Pehlivan, the only Turkish member of the Belgium Senate, told
Zaman that MR members continuously attempt to keep the so-called
Armenian genocide fresh on the agenda.

Pehlivan emphasized the bill’s acceptance is impossible, and a
general assembly approval is difficult even it passes in the
commission.