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“It is a good decision for the Armenians,” lawyer Geoffrey Robertson told the correspondent of Panorama.am in Strasbourg. Geoffrey Robertson QC represented Armenia in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) hearing of the case of Perincek v. Switzerland (no. 27510/08).

According to Mr. Robertson, three points are noteworthy when one reads carefully the decision: first, it removes the lower chamber’s ruling, in which the court expressed doubts about the Armenian Genocide. The upper chamber said it has no right to say anything in this regard. The second important point is that the highest court of Europe has ruled that the Armenian people has the right to respect and their opinions of the Armenian Genocide shall be protected. There will be no doubt in the future that Europe’s highest court says the Armenians should be respected for their history. It means that people could be convicted of genocide denial as part of the fight against xenophobia, G. Robertson said.

The most significant issue raised by the decision has to do with Turkey’s laws. According to G. Robertson, the Turkish Criminal Code bans insulting Turkishness, due to which man Armenians in Tukey and Turkey’s intellectuals, including Hrant Dink, have been convicted. Thus, this law of Turkey is not in line with the European Convention. The ECHR judgment is significant and of importance for the Armenians, the lawyer said.

When asked by the correspondent of Panorama.am if the decision could become an obstacle later for criminalization of the Armenian Genocide denial in other countries, Mr. Robertson replied that the court confirmed that the Genocide denial should be condemned if it involves xenophobia or violence, and Switzerland will not have to change its law, but it should be applied carefully.