Brussels Journal, Belgium
Jan 3 2007
Genocide Denial Comedy
>From the desk of Elaib Harvey on Fri, 2007-02-02 22:57
I have it on good authority that the distinguished British historian
Norman Stone is minded to see what happens when you flout the
illiberal genocide denial laws being touted by the EU [pdf].
My own idea is to get a large crowd of liberty lovers gather in the
European Parliament in front of the media on the day that this piece
of monstrous thought crime legislation is passed by the statists that
represent you in the palace of vanities that is the EP.
Simultaneously they will proclaim that they don’t believe that the
Gulag ever happened. After all the mass murder of the Kulaks,
Cossacks, oh just about anybody by the Communists is not on the list
of the forbidden.
But back to Professor Stone. In today’s Telegraph piece he is quoted,
Norman Stone, the professor of history at Turkey’s Koç University,
argues that any attempt to legislate against genocide denial is
`quite absurd’.
`I am dead against this kind of thing,’ he said. `We can not have EU
or international legal bodies blundering in and telling us what we
can and can not say.’
What was missed from the article was how he is proposing to do
something about it. He is after all involved in the great Armenian
genocide massacre argument. The French Government is legislating at
present to make Armenian Genocide denial a criminal offence, a law
that I believe will be enacted sometime in the late spring. According
to my source, the British historian is ready to risk prison to
confront Socialist backed French moves to outlaw Armenian genocide
denial.
`This is a ridiculous and contemptible business – bad history and
worse politics, ` he said.
`I would volunteer, myself, to provoke some trouble in France.’
What this seems to entail is giving a lecture in France after the
legislation has been passed bringing into question the facts
surrounding the Armenian massacres. Then going hot foot to the UK.
>From there he will be liable to extradition under the European Arrest
Warrant. The French authorities will apply for one, get it, send it
to the UK authorities, who because they have signed up to the bloody
thing, send the plod round to his door.
As is the tradition at 6 am, some size twelve boot will be applied to
his door.
`Professor Stone?’
`Yes’
`Under the authority of the European Union I am arresting you.’ Here
our enterprising young plod (no doubt with armed back up) will wave a
pair of handcuffs under the professor’s nose, for an offence that is
not on British statute book and for which their is no Common Law
criminal precedent. `I have to advise you that any statement you make
will be translated into the 22 official languages of the European
Union and you will be kept in a French prison until they can be
bothered to hear your case.’
Or in the words of one EU Commission official asked about the case:
`Individuals who could be surrendered for denial offences that took
place in another member state since racism and xenophobia is included
in the list of offences mentioned by the European arrest warrant.’
There is one slightly interesting side to this though. If Turkey
joins the EU then we will have the comedy situation that denial of
the Armenian Holocaust is a criminal offence in France, whilst
mentioning it is a criminal offence in Turkey. The happy result of
this could be that the entire population of France could be lifted
and placed, Midnight Express like in Turkish prisons. Of course the
entire population of Turkey could then find itself extradited to
France and imprisoned there.