PARIS—Following Wednesday’s rebuke by the French Senate of the Armenian Genocide denial criminalization bill, France’s Justice Minister said that he would publish a memorandum that would mandate punishment for Genocide denial, reported Turkey’s Today’s Zaman.
Justice Minister Michel Mercier announced at the Senate that the memo will be drafted later this week and he cited a similar commission of the Jewish community and the Justice Ministry as a precedent for such a body.
“I invite the representatives of the Armenian society to jointly work with members of the judiciary and the Ministry of Justice in order to determine all of the incidents of genocide denial and racism,” said Mecier.
The memorandum with delineate a commission comprised of representatives of the Armenian community will be able to file complaints to punish those who deny the existence of genocide and assign the jail sentences.
Turkish officials were “shocked” by the memorandum proposal, according to Today’s Zaman. They claimed they learned about it during their lobbying meetings with Franch officials.
