"Hayastan" faction proposes stricter penalties for denying and  justifying the Armenian Genocide, but the ruling majority rejects the  initiative

ArmInfo.  The opposition faction "Hayastan" in the National Asssembly has developed a draft amendment to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia that seeks to toughen the penalties for denying, belittling, approving, or justifying the Armenian Genocide and other internationally recognized genocides. The draft law was presented by  faction secretary Artsvik Minasyan on September 3 at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on  State and Legal Affairs. The committee, under the chairman's  direction, did not support the initiative. 

According to Minasyan, under the current legislation, denial of  genocide is only considered a criminal offense  if it is done with  the intent of inciting hatred or violence based on race or ethnicity.  "There are many cases where individuals, by denying the fact of  genocide, are actually indirectly trying to downplay this criminal  act or present the victim as the culprit instead of the perpetrator.  However, the current legislation, unfortunately, does not ensure that  such individuals are held accountable," Minasyan emphasized. He also  mentioned that the Declaration of Independence of Armenia enshrines  the obligation to support the international recognition of the  Armenian Genocide, and these changes are aimed protecting national  identity and statehood.

According to the draft, denial, mitigation, approval or justification  of the Armenian Genocide or similar crimes will result in fines,  community service or imprisonment for up to 4 years. In cases where  such actions are intended to incite hatred, discrimination or  violence based on race, nationality or religion, then imprisonment  for a term of 4 to 8 years is envisaged. If it is committed through  the use of media, information technology or official authority, then  a harsher punishment of 10 to 15 years in prison with deprivation of  the right to hold certain positions for up to 5 years will be  imposed. The head of the Commission, Vladimir Vardanyan, stated that  the proposed regulations are worse than the current ones and urged  the commission members to vote against the initiative.