Media security expert recalls criminalization of Armenian Genocide  denial 

ArmInfo. Information security expert Samvel Martirosyan recalled the criminal liability for actions aimed at denying, justifying or promoting the Genocide, as  established by Article 136 of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

The expert drew attention to the fact in a post on his Facebook page  that acts committed on the basis of race, skin color, national or  ethnic origin, as well as religious affiliation with the purpose of  inciting hatred, discrimination or violence against individuals or  groups are subject to punishment. "Such actions are subject to  punishment by a fine of twenty or forty times the amount, up to  community service for 150 to 250 hours. In addition, measures in the  form of restriction of freedom for up to three years or short-term  imprisonment for a term of one to two months, as well as imprisonment  for a term of no more than four years are possible," the expert  wrote.

At the same time, as Martirosyan emphasized, if such actions are  committed publicly using the media, information technology or  authority, this may entail more serious consequences. In such cases,  the punishment may be imprisonment for a term of two to five years. 

In turn, lawyer Ashot Simonyan on his Facebook page called for a  criminal case to be initiated against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan. He also recalled the existence of criminal liability in  Armenia for denying the fact of the Genocide. "This act is also  criminally punishable in Switzerland. Moreover, mainly Turks by  nationality have been or are being punished there for well-known  reasons. Based on the above, I demand that a public criminal  prosecution be initiated against Nikol Vovaevich Pashinyan and that  the latter be subject to criminal liability," the lawyer wrote.

In this regard, he recalled Pashinyan's statement during his visit on  January 5, 2025, when in a video released by the government, the  Prime Minister questioned the fact of the Armenian Genocide in the  Ottoman Empire at a meeting with representatives of the Armenian  community in Switzerland. "We must understand what happened and why  it happened. And how we perceived it, through whom we perceived it:   how did it happen that in 1939 there was no agenda for the Armenian  Genocide, but in 1950 it appeared?  How this happened, we must  understand or we must not understand," the Armenian Prime Minister  noted.  He is apparently either unaware that the term Genocide was  introduced into circulation by genocide scholar Raphael Lemkin only  in 1944, or he is deliberately trying to create a narrative that  "this issue was artificially raised by the Soviet Union to put  pressure on Turkey."

Last October, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated in  parliament that the issue of advancing the agenda of international  recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire is not the  prerogative of the Armenian Foreign Ministry. He then repeated the  narratives promoted by Ankara for decades that this issue should be  dealt with by historians. In fact, with this statement, Mirzoyan  confirmed the concerns of experts previously expressed that the  current Armenian authorities will do anything to normalize relations  with Turkey, while trampling on their own national interests,  including in terms of international recognition of the Armenian  Genocide.

The Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire was the first genocide in  the 20th century. Armenians remember the victims of the tragedy every  year on April 24. Turkey traditionally denies accusations of mass  extermination of more than 1.5 million Armenians. The fact of the  Armenian Genocide has been recognized by many states and a number of  authoritative international organizations. The first country to  recognize the Genocide in 1965 was Uruguay. Then this fact was  recognized by Cyprus, Russia, Greece, Canada, Lebanon, Belgium,  France, Paraguay, Argentina, Sweden, Bolivia, Great Britain, Holland,  Slovakia, Germany, Lithuania, Venezuela, Poland, Chile, Switzerland,  Brazil, Luxembourg, Austria, Vatican, Czech Republic, Denmark,  Portugal, as well as the provisional government of Libya, the USA,  Syria, the European Parliament, the World Council of Churches.