Bill Criminalizing Genocide Denial Passes French Parliament Committee

PARIS—The committee on constitutional law of the French National Assembly approved a draft bill on criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide, reported freelance journalist Jean Eckian.
The bill introduced by Valerie Boyer and co-signed by 40 parliament members of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and the New Center parties, levies a fine of 45,000 euros and a one year prison sentence for those who deny the Armenian Genocide.
The bill will now be sent to the entire National Assembly for a debate and vote.
“I hope that we will go to the end and that France will always be a country of human rights,” said Boyer.
The resolution amends the law on freedom of press so that racially motivated crimes are now punishable by law.
A similar bill was approved by the National Assembly on October 12, 2006. On May 4 the French Senate rejected the measure.