SPEIER BILL FOR FAMILIES OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS SIGNED BY GOV.
California Chronicle, CA
Sept 27 2006
SACRAMENTO – State Senator Jackie Speier announced yesterday that
Gov. Schwarzenegger has signed her legislation, SB 1524, which
removes the statute of limitations for 10 years so that the families of
Armenian Genocide victims can file a claim again financial institutions
to recoup the loss of personal financial assets.
"I authored this legislation on behalf of the 900,000
Armenian-Americans living in our state. As result of the Armenian
Genocide, thousands of Armenian orphans and survivors were robbed
of their country, their families, their ancestral homes, as well as
personal property and other assets, including bank deposits," said
Speier (D-Hillsborough). "The time has come to return these deposits
to their rightful owners."
SB 1524 allows any Californian who was a victim of the Armenian
genocide, or who is an heir or beneficiary of a victim, to sue
financial institutions to recover assets stolen or lost between 1890
and 1923. Under the new law Californians of Armenian descent will
have through 2016 to file claims.
At the time of the Armenian Genocide, there were several international
banking institutions which held the deposits of the Armenian subjects
living in Ottoman Turkey. As a result of the brutal Genocide and
deportations of 1915, few Armenians were left to withdraw and recover
their assets on deposit from these banks.
Because many depositor documents were lost or destroyed during
the Genocide, no public disclosure has been made by these banks of
the names of their depositors. Many of the international banking
institutions that operated in Ottoman Turkey during the early 1900’s
currently conduct business here in California.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
