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July 20, 2005
Yesterday afternoon, I received a call from a Canadian Press
reporter seeking my reaction as one of German publisher Ernst Zundel’s
Canadian supporters to news that the German government had charged him with
inciting “hate” for questioning the Hollywood version of World War II.
I told the reporter that I thought the charges marked a sad
day in German history. One of the results of the Allied victory in WW II was
to install a government dedicated to democracy in Germany. Ernst Zundel has
often spoken contemptuously of the German government that he calls “the
vassal state” – as it was installed by the Allies at the end of a war where
there was never a peace treaty signed with the defeated German state. “Sixty
years later, what sort of democracy do you have where people are jailed for
speaking out for their political views?”
I suggested that Germany, a proud and cultured nation, was
acting like some mediaeval backwater where thinkers, like Galileo who
questioned the accepted wisdom (superstition) of the day, were tortured of
jailed. “It’s demeaning,” I said.
The unseemly delay in charging Mr. Zundel and either
releasing him or bringing his case to a speedy conclusion seems part and
parcel of the judicial abuse to which he’s been subjected in Canada and the
U.S. as well. Germany wanted the Revisionist publisher extradited on an
outstanding warrant. That meant they had charges prepared. Yet, he was held
in “investigative detention” and incarceration for over four months – March
2 to July 19, while the system toyed with him.
The reporter, somewhat oddly, asked me what I thought the
Canadian government should do in Mr. Zundel’s case. “Frankly, they’ll do
nothing,” I replied. “He’s a German citizen. They’ll see his case as a
German matter,” I added.
“Besides, they’ve already done their worse. By deporting him
as a ‘terrorist’ and ‘threat to national security,’ the Canadian government
has demeaned the term and shown how confused and lost it is. At a time, when
human flesh and bones are splattered over the walls of London subway
stations by real terrorists, the Canadian government labels a lifelong
pacifist with controversial ideas a ‘terrorist.’ But perhaps that not so
surprising, when this is the same government about to change the definition
of marriage from a man and a woman, which has served our civilization for
nearly 3,000 years, to now include Bruce buggering Barry on a permanent
basis.”
Paul Fromm
Director
CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FREE _EXPRESSION
Canadian Jewish groups happy about Zundel charges,
waiting for conviction
02:34 AM EDT Jul 20
BERLIN (CP) - German prosecutors said Tuesday they have
charged white supremacist Ernst Zundel with inciting racial hatred, four
months after he was deported from Canada.
German authorities accuse Zundel of decades of
anti-Semitic activities, including repeated denials of the Holocaust - a
crime in Germany - in documents and on the Internet. Zundel is "known
internationally as a leader of the right-wing scene," prosecutors in the
southwestern city of Mannheim said Tuesday in a statement listing 14
examples of alleged incitement.
It was unclear when he might face a trial, which Jewish
leaders hope will spread awareness of the Holocaust.
Zundel was arrested in March on his arrival in Germany
after a long legal battle, and remains in jail. He had been detained in
Toronto since 2003 under anti-terrorism laws and deported after a Canadian
judge ruled his activities a threat to national and international
security.
The Canadian Jewish Congress said it was glad to hear
Zundel had been charged, but said justice will not be served fully until
he is convicted.
"Certainly we're very pleased that German prosecutors have
charged Mr. Zundel," spokesman Len Rudner said from Toronto.
"But it's a successful prosecution that will go a long way
to completely discrediting Ernst Zundel."
Born in Germany in 1939, Zundel emigrated to Canada in
1958 and lived in Toronto and Montreal until 2001. Canadian officials
rejected his attempts to obtain citizenship in 1966 and 1994.
He moved to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., until he was deported to
Canada in 2003 for alleged immigration violations.
While Jewish groups in Canada hailed Zundel's deportation,
some civil libertarians argued it was a crime against freedom of speech.
"Banning ideas - even foolish ones - is just never
healthy," Paul Fromm, the president of the Canadian Association for
Freedom of _Expression, said Tuesday from Toronto after hearing of
Zundel's charges.
"It's very disappointing and it's sad to see the German
government has learned nothing about democracy."
German prosecutors obtained an arrest warrant for Zundel
in 2003. Because his Holocaust-denying website was available in Germany,
he is considered to have been spreading his message to Germans.
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Setting the Record Straight: Letters from Cell # 7
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Find out who this "premier thought criminal" really is -
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Reminder:
Help free Ernst Zundel, Prisoner of Conscience. His
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Take a look - and tell a friend.
http://www.zundelsite.org/gallery/donations/index.html
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Please write to Ernst Zündel, let him know that he is not
alone:
Ernst Zundel
JVA Mannheim
Justiz-Vollzugsanstalt
Herzogenried Strasse 111
D 68169 Mannheim
Germany
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