Flashermac Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Holocaust Denier Gets Three Years in Jail By VERONIKA OLEKSYN The Associated Press Monday, February 20, 2006 VIENNA, Austria -- Right-wing British historian David Irving was sentenced to three years in prison Monday after admitting to an Austrian court that he denied the Holocaust - a crime in the country where Hitler was born. Irving, who pleaded guilty and then insisted during his one-day trial that he now acknowledged the Nazis' World War II slaughter of 6 million Jews, had faced up to 10 years behind bars. Before the verdict, Irving conceded he had erred in contending there were no gas chambers at the Auschwitz concentration camp. "I made a mistake when I said there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz," Irving testified, at one point expressing sorrow "for all the innocent people who died during the Second World War." Irving, stressing he only relied on primary sources, said he came across new information in the early 1990's from top Nazi officials - including personal documents belonging to Adolf Eichmann - that led him to rethink certain previous assertions. But despite his apparent epiphany, Irving, 67, maintained he had never questioned the Holocaust. "I've never been a Holocaust denier and I get very angry when I'm called a Holocaust denier," he said. Irving's lawyer said he would appeal the sentence. "I consider the verdict a little too stringent. I would say it's a bit of a message trial," attorney Elmar Kresbach said. State prosecutor Michael Klackl declined to comment on the verdict. In his closing arguments, however, he criticized Irving for "putting on a show" and for not admitting that the Nazis killed Jews in an organized and systematic manner. Irving appeared shocked as the sentence was read out. Moments later, an elderly man identifying himself as a family friend called out "Stay strong, David! Stay strong!" before he was escorted from the courtroom. Irving has been in custody since his November arrest on charges stemming from two speeches he gave in Austria in 1989 in which he was accused of denying the Nazis' extermination of 6 million Jews. Irving, handcuffed and wearing a navy blue suit, arrived at the court carrying one of his most controversial books - "Hitler's War," which challenges the extent of the Holocaust. Throughout the day, Irving sat quietly and attentively in the stifling courtroom. Irving's trial was held amid new - and fierce - debate over freedom of expression in Europe, where the printing and reprinting of unflattering cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad has triggered violent protests worldwide. "Of course it's a question of freedom of speech," Irving said. "The law is an ass." The court convicted Irving after his guilty plea under the 1992 law, which applies to "whoever denies, grossly plays down, approves or tries to excuse the National Socialist genocide or other National Socialist crimes against humanity in a print publication, in broadcast or other media." Austria was Hitler's birthplace and once was run by the Nazis. "He is everything but a historian ... He is a dangerous falsifier of history," Klackl said, calling Irving's statements an "abuse of freedom of speech." Klackl said the Austrian law does not "hinder historical works." "You have to look at each case individually," he said. "The point is, what is someone trying to do? It's the intent." Kresbach, however, said people "should have a right to be wrong." The verdict was welcomed by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which also highlighted the issue of freedom of speech. "While Irving's rants would not have led to legal action in the United States, it is important that we recognize and respect Austria's commitment to fighting Holocaust denial, the most odious form of hatred, as part of its historic responsibility to its Nazi past," the center's associate dean, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, said in a statement. Kresbach said last month the controversial Third Reich historian was getting up to 300 pieces of fan mail a week from supporters around the world and was writing his memoirs in detention under the working title "Irving's War." Irving was arrested Nov. 11 in the Austrian province of Styria on a warrant issued in 1989. He tried to win his provisional release on $24,000 bail, but a Vienna court rejected the motion, saying it considered him a flight risk. Within two weeks of his arrest, he asserted through his lawyer that he had come to acknowledge the existence of Nazi-era gas chambers. However, he has claimed previously that Adolf Hitler knew little if anything about the Holocaust, and he has been quoted as saying there was "not one shred of evidence" the Nazis carried out their "Final Solution" to exterminate the Jewish population on such a massive scale. Irving, the author of nearly 30 books, has contended most of those who died at concentration camps such as Auschwitz succumbed to diseases such as typhus rather than execution. In 2000, Irving sued American Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt for libel in a British court, but lost. The presiding judge in that case, Charles Gray, wrote that Irving was "an active Holocaust denier ... anti-Semitic and racist." Irving has had numerous run-ins with the law over the years. In 1992, a judge in Germany fined him the equivalent of $6,000 for publicly insisting the Nazi gas chambers at Auschwitz were a hoax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 I wonder if they get the irony...preserving the memory of the fascists by being fascist thrmselves. :: Regards, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted February 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 This will not go unnoticed in the Middle East. Already on the BBC News site: 20 Feb 2006 Contradiction in Arab cartoon views Blatantly anti-Semitic literature is on sale in Cairo, just like many other Arab capitals. Martin Patience reports on the apparent inconsistency in the Egyptian reaction to the Danish cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad. Two hundred metres from the Arab League's headquarters in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, there are two newspaper kiosks on the pavement. Cairo bookstalls and shops sell anti-Semitic texts They sell all sorts of Egyptian papers and magazines - including Hijab, a fashion monthly for religious Muslim women showing a cover-girl wearing the latest style of headscarf. Passing customers can also buy books - trashy romance novels, computer guidebooks, and children's story books. But on closer inspection, both kiosks openly stock the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious anti-Semitic text that purports to be an account of Jewish plans to rule the world, but was actually written by Tsarist secret police in 1905. They also sell Hitler's autobiography, Mein Kampf. With protests continuing throughout the world over cartoons satirising the Prophet Mohammed, Arab League Secretary General Amr Mousa weighed into the crisis recently, accusing the West of operating "double standards" when it came to freedom of expression. "What about freedom of expression when anti-Semitism is involved?" asked Mr Mousa. "Then it is not freedom of expression. Then it is a crime. "But when Islam is insulted, certain powers... raise the issue of freedom of expression. Freedom of expression should be one yardstick, not two or three," he said. But it's clear that some publishers in Egypt do not practise the kind of respect for religious groups that Mr Mousa is calling for from the West. As numerous commentators have pointed out, in many Arab and Muslim countries anti-Semitism is widespread. One of the newspaper sellers, Mohammed Ahmed, insists he has nothing to hide. "People want to buy the books," says the 32-year-old. "Why shouldn't I sell them?" He argues that selling the book is "freedom of expression and that liberty is the best way". At the Sharouk bookstore along the road, Harry Potter fever has taken hold. The shop's windows are crowded with displays of the latest instalment of the series. But as with the kiosks, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is on sale inside. Shop manager Mustapha Said insists that he is respectful of all religions including Judaism. While he insists he believes in freedom of speech, he is furious about the cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad. He argues that slandering any religion should be punishable. But when it comes to selling the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, he says: "The book is about politics not about religion. I don't have a problem with books criticising politics." At the American University of Cairo, many students agree with Mr Said's comments. But Ahmed Radwan, 20, argues that if Jews are outraged by the book "then it shouldn't be sold." He adds that Jews should take to the streets in protest about the Protocols. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 It's Cartoon Wars!! Here comes the next round. http://www.irancartoon.com/indexday003.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 How the fuck can you get jailed for disagreeing with history and, knowing that he could be jailed, why the fuck did he (a Brit) go to Austria to be tried!!! Ridiculous. Much more reasonable is the case of the Indian guy (in court on suspicion of robbing a rickshaw) who got a life sentence for throwing his slipper at the judge!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 suadum said:I wonder if they get the irony...preserving the memory of the fascists by being fascist thrmselves. :: Regards, SD To be fair, I guess most people do not know that we have "Holocaust laws" in place here in Europe to prevent those history-rewriters from denying that it ever happened. To compare that with freedom of the press is a bit far streched IMO. BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 Actually I think those laws were made during the american-brithish ockupation of Germany and Austria with the purpose of stopping a future faking of history in those countries. Nazi parties are also illegal in Germany, probably also in Austria. Never heard of that the number of killed jews should be holy and law-protected however. It has been discussed openly in Germany when I was working there - does it matter if it was 6 million or 4 or 5? It's still too many. The british historian denied the holocaust in 1989 in Austria, was prosecuted but escaped. Now he changed airplanes and was arrested. But the sentence is too hard as he now has accepted the holocaust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 Actually the laws date from the 80s. And its not the number of killed jews, gypsies, gays and communists that has to be protected, just the fact that it happened. Denialists deny that it all never happened. And of course he now accepted that it happened, it was a condition to get a lower punishment .... LOL BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul101 Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 Does this mean his books are banned in Austria, Germany, Italy etc or it it just speaking in public with the same views as might be in print that is against the law? At least it's only prison, if some countries got hold of salman rushdie for writing a book hardly anyone ever finished, well then he would be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 I have no idea about his book(s) nor that I would care actually..... No intrest at all in those guys.... BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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