David Irving appeared in an Austrian court yesterday at the start of his trial for denying the Holocaust, saying his views had changed since he made his remarks 17 years ago.
If found guilty he faces up to 10 years in prison. Handcuffed and wearing a blue business suit, Irving, 67, appeared calm when he told reporters before the formal proceedings began: "I am not a Holocaust denier. My views have changed.
I am sure he views changed about the same time he realized he was facing ten years in jail.
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Holocaust David Irving
2 comments:
It seems to me that putting people in jail for writing something is exactly the same type of intolerance expressed by ultra- religious muslims over the silly Danish cartoons or the religious right in the US over evolution.
Austria and other countries might well re-think where they are going with this.
Gerry
That is why I have trouble with this law. The idea that being contraversial could be a legal liability is troubling.
But if you view it as an attempt to prevent people from starting or spreading a public lie it is different (and that I do agree with, a lie should have no standing and should be both exposed and punished). In this case his wacky historical ideas he started to present as historical fact.
In the end he was a pro hitler propagandist, and that should be punishable
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