Historian David Irving charged in Austria with denying the Holocaust

[Thom Little]

British historian David Irving was charged yesterday with violating an Austrian law that makes Holocaust denial in this formerly Nazi-ruled nation a crime.

Irving, a controversial Third Reich scholar who has claimed that Adolf Hitler knew nothing about the systematic slaughter of 6 million Jews, was detained November 11 in the southern province of Styria on a warrant issued in 1989.

"A charge was filed in relation to two speeches in 1989 in which he denied the existence of gas chambers," prosecutor Otto Schneider said. The speeches were delivered in Vienna and in the southern town of Leoben.

If convicted, Irving faces up to 10 years in prison.



http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/648761.html

[Selatius]

1. Such a charge wouldn't fly in the US with the Bill of Rights

It would be struck down on 1st Amendment grounds. People have a right to freedom of speech no matter how stupid their message is.

[FreedomAngel82]

2. Exactly

That's a bit outrageous.

[The Magistrate]

3. Good For The Austrians, Sir

Those who actively work to resurect Nazism, as Irving does, deserve rigorous punishment. He knew of this law, and ought to have had the wit to stay out of the jurisdiction wherein it ran....

"I want you to know, boys and girls, that there are people in this world who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that."

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Historian?

He is a historian, like Frist is a vet!

When in Rome (or Vienna)...follow their fucking laws!

[unsavedtrash]

5. using the word "historian" very loosely. What a damn freak.