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Germany court convicts UK bishop for Holocaust denial

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Regensburg District Court in southern Germany convicted British Bishop Richard Williamson of incitement on Friday for denying the Holocaust and ordered him to pay a 10,000 euro fine. The case stemmed from an interview to Swedish TV channel SVT1, broadcast in January 2009,in which Williamson said he doubted that six million Jews were killed in gas chambers. Last year, the same court issued a 12,000 euro fine against Williamson in connection with this case, but Williamson contested the decision, forcing the public trial. When Williamson gave the interview to the Swedish TV channel he asked the crew not to broadcast the interview in Germany, because denial of the Holocaust is a criminal offense there. The lifting of Williamson's excommunication last year by Pope Benedict XVI caused international outrage. In February, the Hungarian Parliament passed a bill that prohibits denials of the Holocaust. In November, the German Federal Constitutional Court upheld legislation prohibiting public support and justification of the Nazi regime. In 2007, the European Union approved a framework aimed at criminalizing denial of the Holocaust and other genocides after six years of contentious debate. Also in 2007, a German court sentenced anti-Semitic writer Ernst Zundel to five years in prison after finding him guilty on 14 counts of incitement, libel and disparaging the dead.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on April 16, 2010 (boomark / email).