The 24 April Committee of the Federation of Armenians in the Netherlands (FAON) this week starts lobbying for the bill penalizing the Armenian Genocide denial. This initiative of Christian Union Party was launched last year but hardly found any support in the Dutch Parliament thus far.
FAON Spokesperson Inge Drost told PanARMENIAN.Net that FAON will start the round along the parties this week with Dutch Social Democrat Party. FAON will among others discuss the matter with MP Aleit Wolfsen, who is to become Mayer of Utrecht, Holland’s 4th city. Wolfsen recognizes the genocide, but does not support the bill. A special paragraph about genocide denial, to his opinion, is not necessary, as he thinks the Dutch Penal Code includes articles about offence and discrimination, enough to punish people who offend others by the way they talk about a genocide.
FAON also called up political parties in the Dutch parliament to condemn the 1-year sentence for Hrant Dink’s son Arat Dink, editorial director of Agos, and Agos franchise owner Sarkis Seropyan for “insulting Turkishness” under article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.
