Swiss court finds Turkish politician guilty of racism for denying
Armenian genocide

If you want proof of the insanity of Holocaust anti-free speech laws and the repression of freedom to which they have led in many areas, read the following quotes from a news report out of Switzerland.

Switzerland has just prosecuted a prominent Turkish politician for expressing his opinion that the term “genocide” is inappropriate to describe the crimes against Armenians during the First World War. Dogu Perincek believes that there was no intentional genocide of Armenians, but that the high death toll was a result of a number of factors. Whatever the ultimate truth of the matter, certainly freedom of research, speech, and opinion is vital.

There is no way that Europe and America can criticize the Turkish law that forbids using the word “genocide” with regard to the Armenian deaths in First World War-era Turkey–especially since European countries have laws forbidding not calling it genocide! Even the Turkish writer who was assassinated in Turkey for acknowledging Armenian genocide said he opposed European laws that forbid questioning it. He said that he would be the first to go test the law. He pointed out rightly that such laws make it harder to pressure on Turkey to allow freedom of speech on the issue.

At this moment, as you read these lines, a man of conscience, Ernst Zundel, is in prison. He was kidnapped by the government from his American wife, deported to Canada, held for 3 years on no charges, and then sentenced in Germany to 5 years for simply questioning aspects of the Holocaust and the portrayal of Germany during the Second World War. Gemar Rudolf, now on trial in Germany, faces years of prison as well for having forbidden opinions.

If there is anyone who truly believes in human rights and human freedom of conscience and expression, they should join the chorus of men and women in America to free Zundel and Rudolf.

Here are the quotations on the conviction in Switzerland,

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — A prominent Turkish politician was convicted Friday of breaching Swiss anti-racism laws by saying that the early 20th-century killing of Armenians could not be described as genocide.

The Turkish foreign ministry reacted swiftly to the decision, saying in a statement that it was saddened by the Swiss court’s ruling to punish Dogu Perincek, leader of the Turkish Workers’ Party, and to ignore “his freedom of expression.”

Perincek was ordered to pay a fine of $2,450 and was given a suspended penalty of $7,360.

Perincek was charged with breaking Swiss law by denying during a visit to Switzerland in 2005 that the World War I-era killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians amounted to genocide. He has since repeated his claim, including at his trial earlier this week.

In Turkey it is a crime to use the word genocide to describe the World War I-era killings.

Perincek accused the judge of “racist hatred” toward Turkey and said he would appeal the verdict to Switzerland’s supreme court.

If necessary, Perincek told Turkey’s government-run Anatolia news agency, he would take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

In his closing statement, judge Pierre-Henri Winzap described the defendant as an intelligent and cultivated person, but added that to deny the Armenian genocide was an arrogant provocation because it was an accepted historical fact.

Switzerland’s anti-racism legislation has previously been applied to Holocaust denial.

The case has caused diplomatic tension between the alpine republic and Turkey, which insists Armenians were killed in civil unrest during the tumultuous collapse of the Ottoman Empire and not in a planned campaign of genocide.

In its response to the verdict the Turkish foreign ministry called into question the legitimacy of the Swiss law and said the case was “inappropriate, baseless and debatable in every circumstance.”

Let us of us rededicate ourselves to freedom of speech, the very foundation of the word thrown about by every politician: freedom. Without freedom of speech no society is truly free! –david duke