Reporters Without Borders called on French MPs to refer a bill criminalizing denial of genocide to the Constitutional Council
The secretary-general of the non-governmental organization, Jean-François Julliard, wrote to members of the French parliament on 26 January to raise concerns about the law.
"The substance of this law has been much debated but there are grounds for questioning its constitutionality as well. The exchanges between the law’s supporters and opponents, involving leading figures and going to the very heart of our fundamental rights, have been so heated that even its supporters must realize that the Constitutional Council’s opinion is indispensible. We therefore urge you to demand its referral to the Council," Julliard wrote.
The new French law sets a punishment of up to one year in prison and a
fine of 45,000 euros for anyone found guilty of denying "outrageously
minimizing" genocides recognized by France, which includes denial that
the killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 constituted
genocide.
"There are four key aspects of the law that disturb us: a conflict with
the principle of the right to free expression, a lack of
proportionality between the offence and penalty, a violation of
parliament’s competence and a lack of clarity in the wording," Julliard
continued.
"Many genocides clamour for attention and if legislators 'recognize' a
dozen of them tomorrow, historical research will be turned into a
minefield. Is genocide denial in the process of becoming 'the new
blasphemy', as the jurist Henri Leclerc said?"
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