Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 29 / Trend M.Aliyev /
Repeal by the Constitutional Council of France of the law criminalizing the denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide" is the success of French democracy, French culture, deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee Aydin Mirzazade told Trend on Wednesday.
"Oddly enough, but a country with a thousand-year history of statehood, the experience of democracy, had to re-take the exam on democracy and statehood, which it successfully managed to pass," the MP said.
The decision of the Constitutional Council of France returned to France its legal, democratic and cultural identity, said Mr Mirzazade. He noted repealed law would return people to medieval times, when someone was arrested or punished by a fine for what he thought otherwise, and the adoption by such a state as France of this bill was met with surprise in the world.
"It was a decision of a small part of France. In the National Assembly the bill was approved by the paltry number of MPs, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of parliamentarians were simply not present during consideration of the question. Opponents of the bill had their say, turning to the Constitutional Council of France," Mr Mirzazade said.
The progressive international community, which, together with Turkey and Azerbaijan, protested against the adoption of this law played important role in this issue, the MP said.
"One of the most important results is that the latest decision of the court of France became a slap in the face of Armenian nationalist circles. The Armenian diaspora organizations are very strong in France, and they hoped to spread around the world this anti-democratic decision of France. The decision of the Constitutional Council showed that it would never allow to oppose the racist mentality of a minority to France's national interests," the MP stressed.
The Constitutional Court of France repealed a law criminalizing denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide" on Tuesday.
The Council justified it by the fact that the law contradicts Article 33 of the Constitution of France and freedom of speech.
Following this decision, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered the government to prepare a new bill criminalizing denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide".
On Jan 23, after an eight-hour debate, the Senate adopted the bill criminalizing denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide". Some 127 senators voted in favor, while 86 voted against.
The bill demands a year's imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euro for denying the so-called genocide.
Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that the predecessor of the Turkey - Ottoman Empire had committed the 1915 genocide against the Armenians living in Anadolu, and achieved recognition of the "Armenian Genocide" by the parliaments of several countries.