Paris Court Rejects Lawsuit Filed Against Turkish Consulate General In Paris

PARIS - A court in French capital Paris rejected a lawsuit filed by ''Committee for Defense of Armenian Cause'' (CDCA) against the Turkish Consulate General in Paris on charges that it denies so-called Armenian genocide on its official web site.
The court announced that it decided to reject the lawsuit application as the Turkish Consulate General in Paris has diplomatic immunity. The court also decided that the CDCA would pay the court expenses.
During the hearing on October 11th, French prosecutor requested the court to declare itself unauthorized for the case in line with the Vienna Convention.
Lawyers of the Turkish Consulate General in Paris requested the court to reject the lawsuit in line with the Vienna Convention and within the scope of freedom of expression.
Rejecting reasons of the Armenian committee, the lawyers said, ''recognition of so-called Armenian genocide by French parliament and the European Parliament does not constitute an obstacle in front of expression of another view on the issue.''
CDCA applied to the court on July 7th to file a lawsuit with the accusation that the Turkish Consulate General in Paris was trying to convince French people to deny so-called Armenian genocide through its web-page.
Claiming that the Turkish Consulate General should be punished and its web-page should be closed, CDCA also accused the French internet server company hosting the web-page.
(UK-MS)
15.11.2004 - 16:26:00