YEREVAN. – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will rule that a person has the right to freely express his position.

Modus Vivendi Center Director, political scientist Ara Papyan stated the abovementioned at a press conference on Monday, commenting on the case of Perincek v. Switzerland, which was heard recently at the ECHR Grand Chamber.

In his words, the ECHR hearing is not debating on the reality of the Armenian Genocide, but rather the issue of freedom of speech, and to what extent is this right being curtailed.

“It should also be understood that the ECHR, unlike the UN International Criminal Court, is not just a legal authority; several political factors play a significant role there,” Papyan stated, in particular.

And in response to a query on whether he sees double standards in use, the analyst noted that they certainly exist in this case.

“In the case of the [Jewish] Holocaust, they are speaking about the Nuremberg trials. But if we look at the documents of the Nuremberg case, we will see that there is nothing there about the Holocaust, as [being] genocide. And there could not have been, since at the time, in 1945-46, genocide was not considered an international crime; the [Genocide] Convention was adopted much later, in 1948,” Ara Papyan recalled.

In 2008, a Swiss court had convicted Dogu Perincek for denying the Armenian Genocide. In December 2013, the ECHR had ruled in favor of Perincek’s lawsuit that was filed against Switzerland. Subsequently, the Government of Switzerland had decided to petition that the Dogu Perincek case be referred for a review by the ECHR Grand Chamber. Separately, Armenia had petitioned to the ECHR, and it now acts as a third party in this case, whose European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber hearing was held on January 28. The decision will be announced in several months

Dogu Perincek is chairman of the socialist Workers’ Party of Turkey. In addition, he heads the Turkish ultranationalist Talaat Pasha organization, which actively fights against the Armenian Genocide’s recognition in Europe.