Armenian expert confident of Sarkozy’s signing Genocide bill

 January 24, 2012 - 12:53 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - President of France Nicolas Sarkozy will sign the bill penalizing the Armenian Genocide denial, according to Armenian political analyst.

“This is merely a technical issue as apparently without Sarkozy’s political wish the decision wouldn’t be adopted,” Sergey Minasyan said, rendering toughening of penalties for the Armenian Genocide denial possible in the future.

On January 23, The French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for 86 against.

On December 22, 2011, the bill was adopted by the French National Assembly. Passed by the Senate, the bill will impose a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.

Turkish authorities repeatedly threatened France with breaking of ties, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stating that he will never step foot in France in event the Senate passes the draft law.