Thursday, January 29 2015 10:47

 Armenia's Attorney General Gevork Kostanyan, who represents Armenia as a third party to the Perincek vs. Switzerland case at the ECHR in Strasbourg, made a statement wherein he warned against distortion of history and denial of the Armenian Genocide.  

"The Armenian people have overcome many hardships and testing. We have never asked the European Court for Human Rights to speak of our people's sufferings that were witnesses by many other nations and countries. However, we did not expect that we would have to protect our history against falsifications and denial ahead of the centenary of the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian people could not expect that the court to favorable ground to falsifiers of history, " Kostanyan said.

He said Armenia's role as a third party to the case is to set the principles the verdict should be based on and outline the mistakes in the initial verdict in favor of Dogu Perincek. "We are here to prevent further mistakes by the Court that serves to protest human rights," Kostanyan said.

A hearing on the "Perincek vs. Switzerland" case was held at the Strasbourg court's 17-member Grand Chamber on January 28.  The verdict will be announced in 6-8 months. In 2007, the Swiss court had convicted Dogu Perincek under Article 216 of the Criminal Code for denying the Armenian Genocide, subjecting him to financial and criminal liability. The Court of Appeals of Vaud Canton and the Federal Supreme Court had denied the appeal submitted against the given verdict. On December 17, 2013, the ECHR ruled in favor of Perincek's lawsuit that was filed against Switzerland, according to which Swiss courts had violated Perincek's right to freedom of speech.  

On March 11, Switzerland's Federal Office of Justice had informed that Switzerland was preparing to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) with the demand for the Grand Chamber to reconsider Perincek's case. The ECHR had sent the case to the Grand Chamber prior to March 17. On August 25, Armenia filed an application to participate in the trial. Turkey had also filed an application to participate. Armenia and Turkey participate in the hearings as a third parties.