ZGram - 2/11/2003 - "Zundel Arrest - Some facts you must know!"

irimland@zundelsite.org irimland@zundelsite.org
Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:48:17 -0800


ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

=46ebruary 11, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

I am sorry I could not get anything out to my readers yesterday and 
only now at least some partial information.  I am walking around the 
house with three telephones hanging from my belt!  The calls are 
simply non-stop!

I am encountering resistance at every government level.  I was trying 
to find out who gave the order for Ernst's arrest and have not been 
able to get a reply.   I am working on it, and just as soon as I have 
contact numbers, I'll send them to you to put some heat where it 
belongs.

Meanwhile, please familiarize yourself with both the content and the 
sequence of what happened - so that, when I send you names and 
addresses to contact, you can respond in an informed and responsible 
way.

We are working on several strategies.  I was told this morning by a 
very nasty person in the Memphis INS office that Ernst will be 
deported just as soon as they can manage.

Therefore, publicity about this case NOW is CRUCIAL!

You'll say:  But where?  Start on your own.  Call your own 
representative.  Ask what happened to freedom of speech.  Call the 
ACLU.

Ask why the borders, both north and south, remain porous letting in 
millions of undocumented foreigners, =1Fwhile someone like Ernst 
Z=FCndel, living quietly and peacefully, gets harassed.  Be creative. 
And just as soon as I find out, I will send you contact names and 
numbers.

=46or a start, try links and emails on the First Amendment Cyber Tribune.  =
=1F

http://w3.trib.com/FACT/

The most urgent questions to be asked are:

*     Who ordered this arrest?  Who signed the deportation order?

*     Is it customary to arrest a person on an alleged minor 
immigration violation by five (!) agents?

*     What are the procedures to prevent deportation to Germany where 
Ernst would be convicted and imprisoned?  What are the steps?  Who 
should we contact?

*     What happened to the First Amendment guarantee?  Are people in 
America still free to speak their conscience?

Some things are clearer now then they were even one or two days 
before.  Here is update the information you must know:

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

Background Information on the arrest of my husband, Ernst Zundel
=46rom:  Ingrid Rimland Zundel

=46ebruary 11, 2003

Ernst Zundel is a globally known activist speaking on behalf of the 
maligned and vilified World War II German generation, insisting on 
fairness and historical truth.  His enemies like to call him names - 
a mild one being "Holocaust denier."

Ernst has battled the Holocaust Lobby for decades and is the man 
responsible for the "Leuchter Report" - a scientific report based on 
a forensic investigation of Auschwitz that puts an end to the claim 
that "...the Germans gassed six million Jews."

Ernst has very powerful and nasty enemies.  He has survived three 
documented assassination attempts - a paid-for arson (1995) and two 
parcel bombs (1984 and 1995).  He is a lifelong pacifist who 
scrupulously obeys the law.

Ernst is a German national who lived in Canada for 42 years.  He 
applied for citizenship twice, and was twice denied.  He was not 
given any reason.  This means that he is still a German citizen.

In Germany, "Holocaust Denial" is against the law.  You can get up to 
five years in prison for "... defaming the memory of the dead."  Many 
people are in prison for "holocaust denial" and thousands have been 
prosecuted.  This is a vicious law in Germany that prevents people 
from presenting the facts or even speaking of facts as they know them 
and have checked them out.

I know that this latest arrest is meant to deport Ernst to Germany on 
a technicality where he will be charged, sentenced and imprisoned 
without being allowed a defense - even witnesses and attorneys are 
charged and punished for aiding a defendant charged with "Holocaust 
denial".

Once Ernst is convicted and imprisoned, somebody will make sure the 
key is thrown away.

I fear that even worse could happen and that his very life will be in jeopar=
dy.

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I am a naturalized US citizen of German background.  I met Ernst in 
1994 and we married in January of 2000.  We purchased a home in 
Tennessee and have lived here quietly since the summer of 2000, 
trying to build a new life for ourselves.

After we married, we applied for permanent resident status for Ernst. 
=46rom the beginning, we engaged a reputable, knowledgeable immigration 
attorney who carefully followed procedures.  Given my husband's high 
profile, it was and is in our interest to cooperate in any way we can.

We have lived at the same address for more than two years.  We are 
listed in the telephone book.  My husband has an American Social 
Security Number, a Tennessee driver's licence, and a work permit.  He 
has been vaccinated and fingerprinted, as requested by INS.

We were told that the next step would be a personal hearing before an 
immigration judge, but that this could take as long as 36 months.

In May of 2001, we received a request for an immigration hearing. 
Our attorney could not make it, and he requested a re-scheduling.  A 
copy of this request exists.  It is dated May 23, 2001.

Our attorney wrote to INS:

"I am in receipt of your appointment letter for the interview 
concerning the application for Adjustment of Status of Mr. Zundel. 
Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this service and am 
requesting that it be rescheduled...my schedule conflict(s) and I am 
respectfully requesting rescheduling of this appointment."

There was no reply from INS.

Our attorney wrote again on May 6, 2002, one year later, this time 
sending the letter certified.  I have a copy of this letter and a 
copy the return receipt;  the original is kept at our attorney's 
office.

This time, our lawyer wrote:

"Please be so kind as to reschedule the interview that was cancelled 
last year on June 12, 2001.  It has been quite some time and surely 
this matter can be advanced for personal interview."

Again, there was no reply from INS.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

My husband and I were not overly concerned, since we had been told 
that procedures could take as long as 36 months.  We simply awaited 
instructions.

Last Wednesday, 5 INS agents showed up and bullied Ernst to sign a 
document that stated he agreed to be deported.  I only found out 
later what kind of document it was.  It was a deportation order, 
"...signed and sealed and unappealable."

Ernst asked what would happen if he did not sign this document.

He was told:  "Then we'll arrest you."

"And if I sign the document?"

The answer was:  "Either way.  We are here to arrest you."

I stood next to him.  I don't know if he signed this paper or if he 
just noted that he was under duress and protested the manner in which 
this violation of his rights as a man married for three years to a US 
citizen was handled.

The agents asked him to empty his pockets and lean against a truck to 
be frisked, as though he were a common criminal.  Next they put 
handcuffs on him and took him away.

Media reports now tell me that he was arrested because he "overstayed 
his visa."

I was not given any copies of any documents or  justification for 
this arrest.  No one from either the INS or the local sheriff's 
office has called me as of 9:00 a.m. this morning, Feb. 11, and told 
me what will happen next.   I feel that what happened to my husband 
was akin to a kidnapping with the assistance of the law.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

With much difficulty and many runarounds I finally found out that 
Ernst is being held in the detention facility in Blount county, a 
jail that is located about an hour from where I live.  Ernst has 
since been able to call me once a day.  No one has contacted him or 
told him what would happen next, not even his attorney.  I must 
assume that roadblocks are being put in his way.

I was allowed to see Ernst once, last Saturday, after unbelievable 
obstacles and many unnecessary bureaucratic hassles.  I believe that 
my husband is being given the "Diesel Treatment" within the prison 
facility itself whereby he is moved from unit to unit so that his 
visiting hours get cancelled, postponed or mixed up in administrative 
procedures.

I don't know what will happen next.  A spokesperson in the Louisiana 
Regional INS office - I believe her name is spelled "Maow" - told 
reporters that, "in layman's terms, that Ernst Zundel is out of legal 
immigration status", that he might get a hearing before a judge "if 
it is appropriate", and that "he could be removed without going to a 
judge."

That is an ominous statement!

Because of my husband's high political profile and the enormous power 
of the Holocaust Lobby in America, I fear that his enemies plan to 
whisk him out of the country to Germany just as fast as they can.

If they succeed, a conviction for "Holocaust denial" in Germany is a 
foregone conclusion.

What does that mean?  Not only would he get 5 years in jail, he would 
be prevented from returning to America for ten years because he would 
have a "criminal" record for Holocaust denial!

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

Thank you very much!


Ingrid Rimland