Swiss prosecutors drop charges against Bagis

Swiss prosecutors have dropped charges against Turkey's EU Affairs Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis in an investigation into statements he made on a bill criminalizing denial of the so-called Armenian genocide adopted by the French Senate in January. In response to a question from a journalist on what he thought of the bill, Bagis has said that it was null and void for them, adding, "Here I am in Switzerland today, and I'm saying the 1915 incidents did not amount to genocide. Let them come arrest me." "After consulting with the Swiss foreign ministry, the prosecutor has concluded that criminal charges against Egemen Bagis cannot be pursued because, as a Turkish EU minister, he enjoyed immunity during his entire stay in Switzerland," the Zurich Chief Prosecutor's Office prosecutor said in a statement on Monday.