Pashinyan's party rejects bill on criminalising denial of “Armenian genocide”

The Armenian Parliament has voted down an opposition-backed bill that sought to criminalise denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide.”

Some 58 pro-government lawmakers opposed the draft law, while 26 MPs voted in favour and two abstained, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

The ruling Civil Contract party initially stated that it would vote against the amendment, citing an existing article in the Criminal Code. 

The bill was introduced by Artsvik Minasyan, secretary of former president Robert Kocharyan's Armenia faction. Minasyan argued that although Article 136 of the existing Criminal Code stipulates liability for denying genocide, it does not specifically refer to the so-called "Armenian genocide."