Irving (not Frazer!) jailed!

[Pete Wells]

Holocaust denier, inspiration for a fine Grennie script and complete twat has been jailed for three years. Can't say I'm at all sorry.

Pete.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4733820.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4733820.stm

[Buttonman]

He is clearly a right wing nut job, but it does raise some freedom of speech issues. Better forget that alternative reality Future Shock where the second world war didn't happen!

[opaque]

Interesting he's admitted he was wrong though.

[Art]

But it does raise some freedom of speech issues.

Not many though. I mean, complete freedom of speech is the ideal, but Austria's decision to ban the spread of an obvious lie designed to help bring back the Nazi party isn't all that unreasonable given that they're the birthplace of Adolf Hitler.  

I'm just waiting for all the lame "This is EXACTLY the same as the Prophet Mohammed cartoons" comparisons

[Funt Solo]

A point raised by some (cough) diplomats (via Channel 4 News) was that Austria apparently has an atrocious record for convicting Nazi war criminals.  The quote went something along the lines of "Austria is a haven for Nazi war criminals".

I have no idea how accurate that is, or what bearing it is supposed to have on the conviction of that Irving bloke.

[Art]

They'bve definately not gone to the same efforts to come to terms with the past as Germany: you won't find any major memorials to the Holocaust there. Mainly their approach seems to be to try to sweep it under the carpet and pretend it never happened, which seems rather unhealthy.

[The Amstor Computer]

Was it a diplomat? I thought it was a rep from the Simon Wiesenthal centre...

[Funt Solo]

I was just making that bit up cos I couldn't remember who'd said it.

Erm...and why should you ever trust anything I say again?  I'll use a line from Blair - 90% of what I said was true.

[Buttonman]

Fiona Bruce did trot out your Muhammed comparison Art, and all said and done both are cases of reaction over thought rather than action. Don't see Amnesty running an emergency appeal over this 'thought crime' though!

[Richmond Clements]

Maybe he'll get lucky, and they'll stick the bastard in one of those prisons he says doesn't exist.

[Funt Solo]

I'm not sure that a three year imprisonment for the crime of "talking bollocks" is very healthy.  Sure and wouldn't most of us be banged up?

I had a geography teacher that told us all that there was an extra layer in the atmosphere in biblical times that allowed people to live longer - thus the bible having those folk that were 200 years old and such.  Total bollocks from a religious loon, and we all knew that.  We took a leaf out of Mr T's book and pitied the fool, but what good would it do to lock him up?

[Quirkafleeg]

Oh dear... he was jailed not for 'talking bollocks' but saying the Holocaust never happened, there was no evidence for it, only the word of people who are mentally ill liars... using his academic 'credentials' to help the cause of ultra right wing political parties

They locked him up so that others will not do the same.

[+rufus+]

    A bullet in the back of the head would have been more in keeping with his political leanings....and richly deserved.
  Why don't scum bags like this get tortured in custody...?
Why couldn't he have been in the car crash with the blokes from Skrewdriver?
Grrr.
To paraphrase Elwood Blues, 'I hate Illinois Nazis (and their apologist cronies)'
 Good riddance.
good night...
Rufus

[LARF]

The man is obviously a loon to ever think that the holocaust never existed. All he has to do is visit Yad Vashem to realise there's millions of reasons why he's wrong...

the sad fact is that there will be people out there so bitterly blinkered with hatred they would love to accept there never was a holocaust.

[Satanist]

Someone says there was no holocaust  - wrong - gets 3 years imprisonment

Someone else say lets start a war over WMD's in Iraq - wrong - gets re-elected

Now wheres the justice in that?