GENEVA (AFP)–A Swiss court on Tuesday ruled that three Turks were guilty of racial discrimination after having claimed that the Armenian genocide was an "international lie."
Ali Mercan, the Europe-based representative of the Party of Turkish Workers, was sentenced to pay a fine of 4,500 Swiss fran’s ($3,900) by the district tribunal of Winterthur.
Two others were ordered to pay 3,600 Swiss fran’s each for complicity in the racial discrimination.
During a demonstration in June last year, Mercan had denied that the Armenian genocide had taken place. The other two Turks were co-organizers of the demonstration.
All three said during the court case that they were ready "at any time" to organize a new demonstration and to take the same line.
In April, Armenia’s president vowed to redouble efforts to have mass killings of Armenia’s during the Ottoman Empire recognized as genocide, a label staunchly rejected by Turkey.
