With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Armenia threatens severe fines on genocide deniers

As the French Parliament is preparing to vote on a bill to penalize the rejection of the purported Armenian genocide Thursday, the Armenian Parliament passed a similar bill this week.

The parliament made a series of amendments to the Armenian Penal Code, Armenia's Yerkir News Agency said.

"Penalizing the genocide" is also among the amendments.

Terming the 1915 incidents as genocide, Yerevan set the penalty for those who "deny the genocide" as a minimum fine of 100 to 300 times the minimum wage in Armenia or a prison sentence up to four years.

Authorities state this is the first such law in Armenia.

Pointing out it is not a crime in Turkey to say "I recognize the Armenian genocide" yet similar cases were opened for "insulting Turkishness," authorities said no Armenian historian would be able to reject the "genocide" if they should join the joint history commission proposed by Ankara.

Read entire article at Armenian News Network