Agence France Presse — English
March 8, 2007 Thursday 6:30 PM GMT

Prosecutor demands suspended sentence for Turkish nationalist

GENEVA, March 8 2007

A local prosecutor in Switzerland on Thursday asked a court to hand
down a suspended sentence and a 3,000 Swiss franc fine against a
Turkish nationalist on racism charges related to the massacre of
Armenians in 1915.

Dogu Perincek, 65, went on trial in the western city of Lausanne this
week for calling the "genocide" of Armenians during World War I an
"international lie" during a Turkish rally in the city two years ago.

The chief prosecutor for the canton Vaud, Eric Cottier, called for a
suspended jail sentence of 90 days or an equivalent fine, as well as
a firm fine of 3,000 Swiss francs (1,900 euros, 2,500 dollars) the
Swiss news agency ATS reported.

A verdict is due on Friday at 11.00 am (1000 GMT).

If found guilty, Perincek would be the first person sentenced under
Switzerland’s anti-racism law for denying an Armenian genocide. In
2001, a court in the capital Bern acquitted 12 Turks facing similar
charges.

However, two years later the Swiss lower house of parliament
recognised the massacre of Armenians during World War I as genocide.

Turkey fiercely rejects the genocide label to describe the massacres
under the Ottoman Empire.

The issue has sporadically sparked tensions in Turkish-Swiss
relations.

A lawyer for the prosecution’s side told the court Thursday that
Perincek came to Switzerland in 2005 in the full knowledge that he
would be breaking the law.

"Provocation has a price that must be paid," said the lawyer,
Philippe Nordmann.

Perincek argued in court that he had not committed an offence with
his statements during the rally, insisting there had been no genocide
in 1915, ATS reported.

He said Switzerland’s anti-racism law was not applicable in the
Armenian case while it was fully justified for the Holocaust in World
War II.