July 24, 2012 - 14:03 AMT
France’s Newsring Poll: Is Armenian Genocide bill necessary?

A poll conducted on Newsring French news agency website measured French society’s attitude to a possible adoption of a bill criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial.

Current results of the poll show 87000 (60%) to favor the law, while 60000 (40%) are opposed to the bill.

On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide. The bill envisaged imposing 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.

Later, the French Constitutional Council ruled that a bill adopted by the French Senate making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide was anti-constitutional.

In July, French President Francois Hollande confirmed plans for a new law criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide with representatives of the Armenian community.