Genocide statement is 'free speech'

The "hate speech" laws installed in Victoria by Premier Bracks make him no friend of free speech. His talk about free speech below is clearly an attempt to disguise that. He is conflating the principle of free speech with the British tradition of "parliamentary privilege" -- a tradition that applies in all Australian parliaments. "Parliamentary privilege" is the doctrine that statements made in parliament are not prosecutable or otherwise sanctionable under libel or any other law -- though they can of course be sanctioned (rarely) by the parliament itself. The speech below was clearly privileged and hence unaffected either by free speech provisions or the lack of them

A Victorian MP's parliamentary speech accusing Turkish people of ignoring acts of genocide more than 80 years ago was a sign of free speech at work, Victorian Premier Steve Bracks said today. Jenny Mikakos, the parliamentary secretary for justice, whose ethnic background is Greek, has accused Turkey of ignoring the killing of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Greeks between 1916 and 1923.



In a short speech to the Victorian upper house during the last session of Parliament, Ms Mikakos reportedly said: "On May 19, the Pontian community in Victoria and around the world will commemorate the 87th anniversary of the Pontian genocide that occurred in present-day Turkey. "Between 1916 and 1923, over 353,000 Pontic Greeks living in Asia Minor and in Pontus, which is near the Black Sea, died as a result of the 20th Century's first but less-known genocide," Fairfax reported her as saying. "Over a million Pontic Greeks were forced into exile. In the preceding years, 1.5 million Armenians and 750,000 Assyrians in various parts of Turkey also perished."

Two Labor MPs of Turkish descent, Adem Somyurek and John Eren, interjected but Ms Mikakos continued speaking. "The Turkish government must begin the reconciliation process by acknowledging these crimes against humanity. The suffering of the victims of the Pontian genocide cannot and will not be forgotten," she said.

The comments, made under a system of 90-second free statements for MPs established by the Bracks Government, have outraged Turkish and Jewish groups. But Mr Bracks today said Ms Mikakos, one of two members for the safe Jika Jika province in Melbourne's north, was free to make the speech. "Free speech is something that we uphold, and I understand that, and the freedom to criticise someone who makes a statement is also appropriate as well," he told Southern Cross Broadcasting. "As to the interpretation of those events, that is a matter which, really, other people can judge, but this is something she obviously felt passionate about. "It's up to her. She is a member of parliament who can submit those things to the Parliament. "But equally, people have the right to vigorously disagree with her point of view."

Source

Mr Lefty has more on the rumbles sparked by the above speech.

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