YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS: The decision of the Greek legislatives to criminalize the genocide denial expresses the principal position which that country has had for decades on genocides and crimes committed against humanity.  According to Head of Yerevan State University (YSU) Chair of European and International Law Vigen Kocharyan, it is logical also from the viewpoint that the assignment adopted within the framework of the Council of Europe demands that states adopt such legislation. 

Vigen Kocharyan reminded that in 2002 the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) discussed and adopted the general political assignment entitled “National Legislation against Racism and Intolerance”.

Referring to the case of Turkish nationalist Doğu Perinçek at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Vigen Kocharyan said that the decision adopted by the Greek parliament will most likely not affect the further process of the hearings, but it will be a distinct impetus for the court. Vigen Kocharyan said that Doğu Perinçek’s case is problematic, because there is a situation over which there are different approaches within the Council of Europe.

On 9 March 2007, Doğu Perinçek was found guilty by a Swiss district court of conscious violation of Swiss laws against genocide denial with a racist motivation and was fined CHF 12,000. The case was a result of Perinçek's description of the Armenian genocide as "an international lie" at a demonstration in Lausanne on 25 July 2005; he later admitted to a Swiss court that there had been massacres, but reiterated his belief that these did not constitute genocide. The verdict was confirmed by the Vaud cantonal appeal court on 19 June, and by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland on 12 December 2007. The case eventually ended up at the European Court of Human Rights in 2013; where it was ruled that Switzerland had violated the ex-head of the left-wing Turkish Workers' Party’s right to free speech. The Swiss Justice Ministry appealed the decision and referred it to the Grand Chamber of the Court of Human Rights. Armenia has lodged a claim to the ECHR for involvement of a third party.