Friday, 10. February 2012

:: Home > General News > Court reduces Holocaust denier's sentence

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
30	31	1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	1	2	3	4

Add your event FREE

Today

Polls

02. 03. 10. - 13:00

Court reduces Holocaust denier's sentence

Holocaust denier Gerd Honsik has had his prison sentence reduced from five to four years by the Appeals Senate of Vienna�s Higher Regional Court (OLG) yesterday (Mon).

Judge Christian Dostal said that the original sentence was "too long." He added that making an example of Honsik in an attempt to deter others from engaging in the same behaviour would have had the effect of "making us live in constant anxiety and fear in Vienna."

The judge told Honsik: "You have occupied yourself with this activity your entire life. I do not know if that has improved the quality of your life, but it would please me not to see you here again. Keep a diary that you do not show to anyone else."

The public prosecutor had wanted the original sentence lengthened to 10 years.

But Honsik�s attorney Georg Karesch said it had been impossible to prove that Honsik�s activity had harmed anyone else. "Honsik has not done anything that appears to me to be criminal. The Pope cannot be blamed if an Irish Catholic blows up a police station."

It was announced last month that the Austrian High Court (OGH) had confirmed Honsik�s conviction last year for spreading Nazi ideology.

Honsik, then 68, was found guilty on 28 counts of breaking laws prohibiting activities supporting the Nazi regime by the Vienna Criminal Court last April.

In 1992, Honsik was convicted of breaking laws against spreading Nazi ideology in his book "Freispruch f�r Hitler?" (Acquittal for Hitler?) and sentenced to a year and a half in prison.

But he fled to Spain, where he gained a reputation as a leading extreme right-wing publicist.

Austrian public prosecutors claimed Honsik had used his journal "Halt" (Stop), books and the internet in Spain to promote and publicise Nazi ideology.

Honsik was arrested in 2007 near Malaga, Spain, on an international warrant and extradited to Austria.

Austrian Times

Write your comment to this article here

Curtis wrote on 13. 03. 2010 from vienna about "Court reduces Holocaust d..."

My Question is why do we give this guy media attention?when we dont give media attention to alot of Austrians who rebelled against hitler.who was put in concentration camps themselves.upon moving to Vienna I met alot of people who parents was against the war but didnt have the money to get away as some did. but the ones that was left behind had to do what they was told are be killed are put in camps themselves these are the things i am learning about Austria and it make me feel good to know this information to pass it to my friends in the states and change there opinions about propaganda as a whole .would it be nice to spread the word about that and those who got killed.cause the average american is totally unaware of this.they only know about the movie spielberg made.but as an african american I would love to see stories of the many who had helped.the Austrian needs to stop trying to make up for past errors of a few.cause as an afroamerican living in vienna i dont personally see in the older people this kind of behaviour thus for giving me the impression of good down home people but was forced to do things out of there nature.as for this Gerd Honsik when you shine a light on little people there shadow grows.but if you shine the light on the unknown are untold stories awareness becomes greater than radical thinking.

Reply

Tag cloud:
laws Holocaust Hitler prosecutor reduces sentence denier Nazi Court activity criminal breaking spreading Vienna publicist Honsik Spain ideology Austrian original

Latest News

Set up tax on financial transactions soon, says Katzian
The head of the Association of Private Employees (GPA-djp) has called for a quick introduction of a tax on financial transactions.

P�hringer rejects U-turn on rightist ball
Young Social Democrats (SP�) have appealed to Upper Austrian Governor Josef P�hringer not to attend the Burschenbundball in Linz this Saturday.

FP� under fire after trip to Grozny
The Freedom Party (FP�) has been harshly criticised for meeting with Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

WKO boss wants pension age hike incentives
Federal Economy Chamber (WKO) President Christoph Leitl has identified attempts to raise the average retirement age as the key issue regarding Austria�s budget.

Woman and child run over in Vienna
A woman and child have died in a road accident in Vienna, Austria. The lorry driver was making a right turn when he drove into a group of pedestrians leaving a 59-year-old and a 12-year-old dead. The mother of the school girl was left with serious injuries.

Schlecker says Austrian jobs are safe
The son of Schlecker founder Anton Schlecker has claimed that the company has no plans to sell its Austrian affiliate.

SP� sees smaller parliament as key signal
The general secretary of the Social Democrats (SP�) has argued his support for a reduction of the size of the parliament.

Austrian food to feature in organic trade fair
Austria is expected to be well represented at next week�s BioFach 2012 international organic trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany. Some 90 companies and organisations from the Austrian organic good sector will feature at the fair from 15 to 18 February.

Brothel for the homeless in Vienna
Homeless people are queueing up for free rooms in an Austrian brothel after owner Peter Laskaris said it would be unfair not to do everything he could during the current cold spell.

Deep-freeze snacks for orangutans in Sch�nbrunn
The lucky orangutans who take up residence in Europe�s oldest zoo have been indulging in a twice weekly take-away. Despite the trees in Sch�nbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria now being completely bare the fury friends have fresh branches and leaves delivered twice a week.