Belgium Senate speaker: Armenian Genocide denial should be considered crime

Armenia News - NEWS.am - 01/11

YEREVAN - The denial of the fact of Armenian Genocide should be considered a crime. President of the Belgian Senate, Christine Defraigne, who is visiting Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan, on Tuesday stated the aforesaid in the National Assembly. She recalled that the Senate of Belgium was one of the first among the European parliamentary structures which, in 1998, adopted a very tough resolution that condemns this tragedy.

“We took steps to set criminal accountability for denial of the occurrence of Armenian Genocide,” stressed Defraigne. “We did not achieve our goal at the time. But I believe that, with the Belgian parliament’s adoption of the resolution that condemns Armenian Genocide, we will achieve the goal set before us on this road.”

She noted, however, that this matter is not about the parliament dictating history. “This is about conveying this history to the new generations, and to make the conveying continuous through the generations,” added the speaker of the Belgian Senate. “[But] not to punish the culprits, but rather to pave the way for new talks and the establishment of  peace.”

Source: news.am

(crédit photo: parliament.am)