Houston Chronicle, TX
March 9 2007
Swiss court convicts Turkish politician
NATHALIE OGI
AP
LAUSANNE, Switzerland – A prominent Turkish politician was convicted
Friday of breaching Swiss anti-racism laws by saying that the early
20th-century killing of Armenians could not be described as genocide.
The Turkish foreign ministry reacted swiftly to the decision, saying
in a statement that it was saddened by the Swiss court’s ruling to
punish Dogu Perincek, leader of the Turkish Workers’ Party, and to
ignore "his freedom of expression."
Perincek was ordered to pay a fine of $2,450 and was given a
suspended penalty of $7,360.
Perincek was charged with breaking Swiss law by denying during a
visit to Switzerland in 2005 that the World War I-era killings of up
to 1.5 million Armenians amounted to genocide. He has since repeated
his claim, including at his trial earlier this week.
In Turkey it is a crime to use the word genocide to describe the
World War I-era killings.
Perincek accused the judge of "racist hatred" toward Turkey and said
he would appeal the verdict to Switzerland’s supreme court.
If necessary, Perincek told Turkey’s government-run Anatolia news
agency, he would take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.
In his closing statement, judge Pierre-Henri Winzap described the
defendant as an intelligent and cultivated person, but added that to
deny the Armenian genocide was an arrogant provocation because it was
an accepted historical fact.
Switzerland’s anti-racism legislation has previously been applied to
Holocaust denial.
The case has caused diplomatic tension between the alpine republic
and Turkey, which insists Armenians were killed in civil unrest
during the tumultuous collapse of the Ottoman Empire and not in a
planned campaign of genocide.
In its response to the verdict the Turkish foreign ministry called
into question the legitimacy of the Swiss law and said the case was
"inappropriate, baseless and debatable in every circumstance." (AP)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
