The Empire Strikes Back, not in a science fiction movie,
but in a French court! For several years, the French-Armenian community has been
trying to pass a law to penalize Armenian Genocide denial, similar to the law
that sanctions Holocaust denialism. Even though the French Parliament and Senate
have approved such a law, and both Pres. Hollande and former Pres. Sarkozy have
supported it, the Armenian efforts have been aborted by powerful Turkish
political and economic circles.Turning the proposed law on its head, Sirma
Oran-Martz, a French citizen of Turkish origin, had filed a lawsuit in France
against Laurent Leylekian, a French-Armenian, for defamation of character.
Leylekian, former editor of "France-Armenie" magazine and former
executive director of the European-Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy, had written a sarcastic editorial
titled, "Martz Attack" in the magazine’s website, denouncing attempts
to transplant Turkish denialism to French soil. Ironically, Oran-Martz is
daughter of Prof. Baskin Oran who resides in Turkey and acknowledges the facts
of the Armenian Genocide without using that term because Turkish law penalizes those who recognize the
Genocide.
In a shocking verdict last month, the court found Leylekian
guilty, ordering him to pay a total of 7,500 euros ($10,000): 4,000 euros to
Oran-Martz for moral damages, and 3,500 euros for court costs, despite her
evasive and irrational testimony during the proceedings. She had lost an
earlier court case after suing Jean-Paul Bret, the Mayor
of Villeurbanne, who had requested that she acknowledge
the Armenian Genocide before agreeing to include her in his party’s candidate
list. She refused and withdrew from the race. In that verdict, the court
referred to the Turkish state’s "vast program of denialism -- powerful,
perverse, and sophisticated" -- a sentence later quoted by Leylekian in
his editorial.
Three prominent individuals testified in court on
Leylekian’s behalf: Francois Rochebloine, a French Parliamentarian; Yves
Ternon, renowned expert on genocide and denial; and Hilda Tchoboian, former
Chairwoman of the European-Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy.
Oran-Martz was accused by Leylekian of taking part in a protest by the Turkish
extremist Grey Wolves group against an Armenian Genocide Monument in Lyon, France,
and signing a petition against the law on genocide denial. Testifying on behalf
of Oran-Martz were: Murat
Erpuyan, director of Paris-based ATA Turquie Association;
Maxime Gauin, a French researcher working at a denialist Think Tank in Ankara;
Alain Mascarou, a retired French teacher who knew the plaintiff in Ankara; and her
husband, Jean-Patrick Martz.
Hopefully, Leylekian would be vindicated when he appeals
this outrageous guilty verdict. Clearly, the judge has made a mockery of French
justice by siding with a genocide denialist, while punishing a descendant of Armenian
Genocide victims. By condemning Leylekian for ostensibly defaming Oran-Martz in
an editorial, the
judge has chosen to deny him free speech, especially a
journalist’s right to express his views in an opinion column.
Surely, the French judge knows the difference between an
opinion piece and a news item! Furthermore, the judge ignored the public
prosecutor’s request not to file criminal charges against Leylekian and to
refrain from sentencing him.
It is ironic that while the French-Armenian community is
trying to penalize genocide deniers, an Armenian is being sued by a denialist
Turk. This topsy-turvy state of affairs makes the best case as to why the
French government should pass a law banning genocide denial.
While Oran-Martz gave incoherent answers in court,
frequently irritating the judge, Leylekian provided clear, concise, and
convincing arguments in his defense. This is why his guilty verdict was
completely unexpected. Could it be that the long arm of Turkish influence
peddling has reached into the French judicial system?
After losing her first lawsuit against the Mayor of Villeurbanne
three years ago, Oran-Matz vowed to continue her legal battle by announcing
that this was "only the first round." It is imperative that the
verdict against Leylekian be reversed through an appeal filed by a competent,
high-powered lawyer in order to right this miscarriage of
justice and put a stop to more anti-Armenian lawsuits by
Turkish denialists.
The French-Armenian community should not remain silent,
but express its outrage in the strongest possible terms against this unjust
verdict and demand that the judge be disciplined for violating French laws and
insulting the memory of genocide victims.
It is high time Armenians show some resolve to defend
their rights in France and elsewhere, particularly on the eve of the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide!
LOUSSAPATZ-2013-975-3-16.
LOUSSAPATZ THE DAWN [loussapatz.n@gmail.com]
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