American Free Press: The Holocaust Heresy Trial

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

The Holocaust Heresy Trial of Ernst Zündel Begins in Germany

MANNHEIM, Germany - The long awaited trial of Holocaust heretic Ernst 
Zündel, which began here in a dismal fortress-like concrete 
courthouse on November 8,  offers only the slightest appearance of 
modern jurisprudence.

  More than anything else, what occurred during the first day of the 
Zündel  trial was reminiscent of the heresy trial of Martin Luther, 
the father of the  Protestant Reformation, which was held in the 
nearby town of Worms in 1521.

  Like Luther, Zündel is on trial for his heretical writings and 
beliefs. While  Luther was tried by Emperor Charles the Fifth, 484 
years ago, at the Diet of  Worms for heresy because of his denial of 
Roman Catholic doctrine, the charges  against Zündel amount to modern 
day heresy for holding opinions contrary to  the state-supported 
dogma of the Jewish Holocaust.

  The Holocaust has, in effect, become the state church in Germany and 
other  European nations. While there is no protection of traditional 
church doctrine,  it is punishable by law in Germany, and other 
European states, to even question  the Zionist version of the 
Holocaust, an historical event which allegedly  occurred in Europe 
60-65 years ago.

  "The Zionists want to impose the religion of the alleged 'Holocaust' 
of the  Jews on the whole world," the renowned French Holocaust 
heretic Robert  Faurisson said in an interview on November 2. "It is 
normal that Jews and Zionists  should seek to foist such an imposture 
on us, for it is the sword and the shield  of the Jews in general and 
of the Jewish State in particular."

  "The Jews' power stems directly from the Western world's near-total 
belief in  the phenomenal lie of the 'Holocaust," Faurisson said. 
"You needn't look any  further."

  "The Jews do not tolerate any questioning of the 'Holocaust,'" 
Faurisson told  the Mehr News Agency of Iran. "Against the 
revisionists they use physical  violence and judicial repression 
because, on the level of historical and  scientific argumentation, 
they have been defeated hands down by the revisionists. We  have been 
able to expose their lies, one by one. Therefore Jews and Zionists 
seek refuge in violence and intimidation. They treat revisionists 
like  Palestinians."

  The first day of the Zündel trial did indeed resemble an Israeli 
court  judging a Palestinian. The court was adjourned before the 
charges against Zündel  could even be read. Presiding Judge Ulrich 
Meinerzhagen and state prosecutor  Andreas Grossmann appeared to have 
come prepared with one strategy in mind: to  dismiss Zündel's 
powerful defense team and replace it with a malleable 
court-appointed attorney.

  After reading a 7-page litany of complaints against Zündel and his 
legal  counsel Horst Mahler, Meinerzhagen ordered Mahler to leave the 
defense team's  table on grounds that he is no longer permitted to 
practice law in Germany. Mahler  was disbarred in March 2004 for 
holding unlawful opinions about the Holocaust.

  Judge Meinerzhagen threatened to have Mahler thrown into jail if he 
did not  leave the table.

  Finally, at 11:09 a.m., surrounded by three green-clad policemen, 
and heeding  the suggestion of defense team member Dr. Herbert 
Schaller of Austria, Mahler  left the defense table and took a seat 
in the first row of public seating.

  The courtroom was packed with some 130 supporters of Zündel and 
members of  the press. As defense attorneys Sylvia Stolz and Jürgen 
Rieger protested the  court's bias and abuse of power there were 
several rounds of applause that caused  Meinerzhagen to completely 
lose his composure.

  Stolz stood her ground and insisted that Mahler was her assistant. 
Meinerzhagen then dismissed her of her duties although she is 
Zündel's state-appointed  public defender. At this point, Jürgen 
Rieger applied for a Befangenheitsantrag, a motion  requesting the 
judge to recuse himself for obvious bias against Mahler and Stolz.

  The Befangenheitsantrag petition will be considered by the Mannheim 
district  court and the decision handed down on November 15.

  Rieger told the court that its actions threatening the Zündel 
defense team  were worse than those of the Soviet Gulag system. 
Rieger said that the defense  lawyers were threatened that if they 
presented evidence they would be punished.

  "Little Germany is the most oppressive country in Europe," Rieger 
said later  when asked by American Free Press about his comparison 
with the Soviet court  system.

  "It is like the Middle Ages when witches were burned at the stake," 
he said.  "Only today we don't burn Holocaust heretics - we just 
throw them in jail."

  Zündel has spent more than two and a half years in jail waiting for 
his trial  since he was arrested in his home in Tennessee on February 
5, 2003. Two weeks  later he was deported to Canada, where he has 
held permanent resident status,  and there he spent the next two 
years in solitary confinement in the Toronto  West Detention Centre, 
on the pretext that he was a threat to national  security. Zündel is 
married to Ingrid Rimland, an American citizen.

  This reporter sat directly in front of the judge in the first row 
and could  see that he seemed seething with anger and suffering from 
undue stress.  Prosecutor Grossmann, sitting across from Zündel and 
his four lawyers, spent much of  the time examining and chewing his 
nails.

  In the court of Meinerzhagen and Grossmann, who both appear to be 
devoted  disciples of the Holocaust, it appears highly unlikely that 
any evidence will be  presented that will challenge the 
state-supported Holocaust doctrine.

  This is because a German law, Paragraph 130 of the penal code, 
prevents any  public discussion that questions the veracity of the 
accepted version of the  Holocaust, which is itself not at all clear. 
For this reason, there appear to be  two options: to have an open 
trial in which no evidence is heard or to have a  secret trial in 
which the evidence is not made public.

  "WE CAN ONLY WIN"

  Zündel and his defense team were beaming as the court adjourned 
until  November 15. At an open press conference at Mannheim's Hotel 
Wartburg, the defense  team took questions and explained their 
position in English and German.

  "We can only win," Mahler said, adding that there will either be an 
open  trial or a closed trial with evidence.

  Rieger said the court can "kick us out," referring to the defense 
team. This  is certainly what the judge seems to be trying to do.

  Stolz, who is being advised by Mahler, said the court has only two 
possibilities. The first option would be for the court to dismiss the 
defense petition  to close the court and hear evidence, in which case 
the court would stay open  and the defense would request evidence to 
be presented. This would expose the  "ridiculous" predicament the 
German law presents for the court, Stolz said.

  The second option is that the judge would decide to lock out the 
press and  the public and the Zündel trial would become a secret 
trial in which evidence  could be presented.

  American Free Press was the only press outlet that attended the 
defense  team's conference. The rest of the press had already gone 
home to file critical  stories meant to minimize the importance of 
the trial and marginalize Zündel's  supporters.

  The Bild tabloid, the semi-pornographic propaganda outlet of Axel 
Springer  which was heavily funded by the CIA in the 1940's, for 
example, in a very  limited article tried to discredit Zündel's many 
supporters by describing them as  being foreigners or Germans who 
were outlandishly dressed in traditional clothes.

  As the crowd of supporters waited to pass the security check point 
outside  the courtroom, an unidentified young man with a Jewish skull 
cap repeatedly  filmed the crowd. Photographed and asked by AFP who 
he was filming for, the camera  man would only say "no comment," but 
said he was Israeli.

  Later, he and another skull-cap clad man who had been in the court 
room  attended the press conference with what appeared to be a group 
of local supporters of Zündel. However, why this group would put up 
such a charade and film the  crowd of supporters is not at all clear. 
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