MOSCOW, January 28 (Sputnik) – Amal Clooney, the human rights lawyer, criticized Turkey's double standards on freedom of expression for defending a Turkish Leftist who described the Armenian genocide an "international lie", reports the Telegraph.
She said Turkey's attitude was hypocritical "because of its disgraceful record on freedom of expression”, including prosecutions of Turkish-Armenians who campaign for the 1915 massacres to be called a genocide.
“It cast doubt of the reality of genocide that Armenian people suffered a century ago, Armenia must have its day in court. The stakes could not be higher for the Armenian people,” she told the Telegraph.
In a December 2013 judgment, a European court concluded that there was not a “general consensus" that the massacres of Armenians were genocide and that only 20 countries out of 190 worldwide classified it as such.
Only three European countries, Greece, Slovakia and Switzerland, ban Armenian genocide denial.
Amal Clooney is fighting the case against Doğu Perinçek, chairman of the Turkish Workers' Party and an MP.
“We are here for the liberty of Europeans,” he said. "Liberty for those who criticize the established status quo.”
“I share the pain of Armenian citizens; you cannot find a word of mine that expresses antagonism against them. I hold the great powers responsible for what happened in 1915. There should be no taboos for the right to speak.”
His arguments were dismissed by Armenia’s legal team which was supporting Switzerland in defending its “unshakable” conviction regarding Armenia.
