Irving trial
In 2005, the British author and
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In 1989, David Irving made two speeches in Austria, one in Vienna and the other in Leoben denying the Holocaust. The speeches included a call for an end to the "gas chambers fairy tale" and claimed that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had helped Europe's Jews and that the Holocaust was a "myth".[1]
Irving was arrested driving in Southern Austria and contravening a ban on entering the country. Irving had previously been fined in Germany, for denying the existence of
Arrest
On 11 November 2005, the Austrian police in the southern state of Styria, acting under a 1989 warrant, arrested Irving. Four days later, he was charged by state prosecutors with the speech crime of "trivialising the Holocaust". His application for bail was denied on the grounds that he would flee or repeat the offence. He remained in jail awaiting trial. On 20 February 2006 Irving pleaded guilty to the charge of "trivialising, grossly playing down and denying the Holocaust".[3]
Sentencing
Before Irving's sentencing hearing, he stated through his lawyer that he had changed his views and his ways. At the trial, Judge Liebtreu quoted numerous statements of Irving's, including "there were no gas chambers at
Towards the end of the hearing, Irving again publicly recanted, saying that "I've changed my views. I spoke then about Auschwitz and gas chambers based on my knowledge at the time, but by 1991 when I came across the Eichmann papers, I wasn't saying that any more and I wouldn't say that now. The Nazis did murder millions of Jews. ..I made a mistake by saying there were no gas chambers, I am absolutely without doubt that the Holocaust took place. I apologise to those few I might have offended though I remain very proud of the 30 books I have written". However, Irving continued to insist that
Michael Klackl, the prosecuting attorney, stated:
David Irving only uses words, but these words are used by right-wing extremists to give them an ideological position. Mr Irving might have said he has changed his views, but that has all been a show for you. Theatrical exhibition to save himself from the maximum sentence. He has played a role for you today. The thread of anti-Semitism runs through him.[8]
The judge, Peter Liebtreu, summarised:
He showed no signs that he attempted to change his views after the arrest warrant was issued 16 years ago in Austria.... He served as an example for the right wing for decades. He is comparable to a prostitute who hasn't changed her ways.... Irving is a falsifier of history and anything but a proper historian. In the world of David Irving there were no gas chambers and no plan to murder the Jews. He's continued to deny the fact that the Holocaust was genocide orchestrated from the highest ranks of the Nazi state.[9]
At the end of the one-day hearing, Irving was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in accordance with the Austrian Federal Law on the prohibition of National Socialist activities (officially
After sentencing
After the sentencing, Liebtreu told the audience that "The court did not consider the defendant to have genuinely changed his mind. The regret he showed was considered to be mere lip service to the law". Within days of sentencing Irving, talking from prison, reverted to a strongly antisemitic position.[10]
On 28 February, Irving once again questioned the Holocaust, asking "Given the ruthless efficiency of the Germans, if there was an extermination programme to kill all the Jews, how come so many survived?" He claimed that the number of people gassed in
Time in prison
Deborah Lipstadt, upon hearing of Irving's sentence to three years' imprisonment, said, "I am not happy when censorship wins, and I don't believe in winning battles via censorship... The way of fighting Holocaust deniers is with history and with truth".[12]
Concerning the Austrian 'Prohibition Statute,' the Austrian Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs insisted that it conforms with international law and international human rights standards, and that it is not contrary to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1950, that being a statute "...necessary in a democratic society (inter alia)... for the prevention of disorder or crime,... [and]... for the protection of the rights of others".
Release
Both Irving, hoping to have the verdict overturned, and the Austrian prosecutor, calling for a longer sentence, served appeals on 22 April 2006. The
Controversy
His imprisonment caused some controversy and has been criticised on the grounds of free speech issues. The German historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler supported Irving's imprisonment under the grounds that "the denial of such an unimaginable murder of millions, one third of whom were children under the age of 14, cannot simply be accepted as something protected by the freedom of speech".[20] By contrast Deborah Lipstadt argued that Irving should not be imprisoned for expressing views that she finds odious and wrong.[21] Opponents of Irving's imprisonment argue that free speech should be applied to everyone regardless of their viewpoints and that it is a slippery slope to imprison someone due to the lack of factual accuracy or unpopularity of their opinions.[22] It has also been argued that by imprisoning Irving the Austrian courts made a martyr out of Irving and did more damage than good, and that it would have been better to simply "let him go home and let him continue talking to six people in a basement", and "let him fade into obscurity where he belongs".[21]
References
- ^ a b "David Irving jailed for Holocaust denial". The Guardian. London. 20 February 2006.
- ^ Freeman, Simon (17 November 2005). "David Irving arrested in Austria". The Times. London.
- ^ Usborne, Simon (30 August 2013). "Exclusive: David Irving - the hate that dare not speak its name". The Independent.
- ^ Boyes, Roger (21 February 2006). "The grudging penitent who tried to turn his trial into another show". The Times.
- ^ "Pro-Nazi historian jailed for denying the Holocaust". The Independent. 21 February 2006.
- ^ Traynor, Ian. "Holocaust denier jailed". The Guardian.
- ^ Oliver, Mark (22 December 2006). "Irving shows little remorse on return to UK". The Guardian.
- Independent.co.uk. Archived from the originalon 14 October 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Hall, Allan (13 January 2009). "Scotsman.com News". Edinburgh: News.scotsman.com. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Pancevski, Bojan; Bloomfield, Steve (26 February 2006). "From his cell, just two days after he recanted his views on the Holocaust, David Irving reverts to extremism". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012.
- ^ Irving goes on denying Holocaust
- ^ a b "Holocaust denier Irving is jailed". BBC News. 20 February 2006.
- ^ "Report: Austria's highest court rejects appeal in David Irving trial". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 19 February 2006.
- ^ Holocaust Denier Freed, Gets Probation โ Salon Archived 14 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Zawadil, Alexandra (19 February 1009). "Irving wins appeal on Holocaust denial in Austria". Washington Post.
- ^ "Holocaust denier freed from prison". Archived from the original on 16 January 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Holocaust denier to be released, BBC News, 20 December 2006.
- ^ "Convicted Holocaust Denier Irving Expelled from Austria | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 22.12.2006". Dw-world.de. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "Holocaust denier: 'No need to show remorse'". CNN. Archived from the original on 16 January 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2006.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Wehler, Hans-Ulrich (February 2006). "Pity for this man is out of place". Der Spiegel. Spiegel. Retrieved 29 May 2008.
- ^ a b O'Neill, Brendan (5 November 2007). "Irving, Let the Guy Go Home". BBC. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
- ^ Shermer, Michael (February 2006). "Free speech, even if it hurts". La Times. Retrieved 23 March 2007.