ECtHR holds hearings on denial of Armenian Genocide

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has considered a complaint lodged by Swiss authorities against the court decision in the case of public denial of the Armenian Genocide. The verdict is expected in 6-8 months.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that residents of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian Diasporas in many countries mark April 24 as the Remembrance Day of the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1923.

According to the decision of the ECtHR, in May, July and September 2005, Doctor of Sciences Dogu Perinchek, the leader of the Turkish Workers' Party, attended in Switzerland a number of conferences, during which he publicly denied the Armenian Genocide. In July 2005, the Association "Switzerland-Armenia" filed a lawsuit in Switzerland, demanding to initiate a criminal case against Perinchek. In March 2007, a court in Lausanne found Perinchek guilty of racial discrimination and ordered him to pay fines; later, in June 2007, the Court of Appeal dismissed Perinchek's complaint, the RAPSI reports.

In 2008 Perinchek appealed against his verdict at the ECtHR. On December 17, 2013, five out of seven judges of the ECtHR ruled in favour of Perinchek, stating that the Swiss court had violated his right to the freedom of expression. Three months later, Switzerland challenged the decision before the Grand Chamber.

At the consideration of the case, Armenia was represented by Amal Clooney, the wife of the famous Hollywood actor George Clooney, and Geoffrey Robertson. Gevorg Kostanyan, the General Public Prosecutor of Armenia, is also in Strasbourg, the "News-Armenia" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.