Re: [ot] Bishop Richard Williamson to go on trial in Germany for "Holocaust
Dennis M Reed "Califa"
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> http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1226673/British-bishop-Richard-Williamson-trial-Germany-Holocaust-denial.html
>
> British bishop Richard Williamson to go on trial in Germany for Holocaust
> denial
>
> By Allan Hall
> Last updated at 6:19 PM on 10th November 2009
>
>
> British Holocaust-denying bishop Richard Williamson faces trial in Germany
> for an outspoken TV interview in which he denied that the wartime
> extermination of the Jews took place.
>
> The ultra-conservative Catholic cleric was hit with a fine of nearly
> �12,000 today by a court for his comments made to a Swedish television
> interviewer - but he refused to pay it.
>
> Because Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany - and because he gave the
> interview while on German soil - he was prosecuted in Regensburg, near to
> the birthplace of Pope Benedict XVI, where he gave the interview.
>
> Under the German legal system, he was served with an 'order of punishment'
> informing him of the penalty.
>
> Such orders are intended to cut down on bureaucracy and costs if both
> sides agree with the fine, which also would mean a criminal conviction.
>
> But Williamson did not agree. He is to appeal, paving the way for a full
> hearing which could prove highly embarrassing for the church once more -
> even though Williamson can absent himself from proceedings to be
> represented just by his lawyer.
>
> A trial judge will demand to know why he believes that six million Jews
> were not murdered by the Nazis and on what facts he bases his views on.
>
> In the controversial interview, Williamson alleged that Nazi gas chambers
> had never existed and 'only 200,000 to 300,000 Jews' had been killed by
> the Nazis.
>
> He went on to claim that historical evidence was 'hugely against six
> million having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate
> policy of Adolf Hitler... I believe there were no gas chambers.'
>
> He added: 'I think that 200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in the Nazi
> concentration camps but none of them in gas chambers.'
>
> Williamson is the first person to appear in court for denying the
> holocaust since military historian David Irving sued Dr Deborah Lipstadt
> for libel in 2000.
>
> Dr Lipstadt wrote Denying The Holocaust: The Growing Assault On Truth And
> Memory in 1993, which discussed a number of Holocaust deniers including
> Irving.
>
> She won her case, with Judge Charles Gray finding Irving had
> 'significantly misconstrued the historical evidence in order to achieve
> his ideological presentation of history'.
>
> Judge Gray also found that Irving was an 'active Holocaust denier; that he
> is anti-semitic and racist, and that he associates with right-wing
> extremists who promote neo-Nazism'.
>
> The Pope, as well as Jewish leaders around the world, was horrified by
> Williamson's comments, which go against the verdict of mainstream
> historians.
>
> Williamson's timing in making the offending statement could not have been
> worse. They were made in January, shortly after the pontiff welcome him
> back into the church after his excommunication because of his right-wing
> views.
>
> Williamson was consecrated a bishop by the pope's Society of Saint Pius X
> (SSPX), an ultraconservative splinter group. The Vatican did not rescind
> his re-entry into the church, saying it had not known about his
> controversial views on the Holocaust.
>
> Williamson said through his lawyer that he was assured his offending
> remarks would not be broadcast in Germany but only in Sweden, where there
> is no law against Holocaust denial.
>
> Prosecutors had received a letter from the Swedish television producers in
> which they denied offering any assurance to Williamson that the interview,
> conducted in English, would be broadcast in Sweden only.
>
> Williamson's German lawyer, Matthias Lossmann, said his client had been
> told to pay ?100 a day for 120 days, and he was likely to appeal.
>
> 'If he does, there will be a proper trial in Regensburg, which Williamson
> will not be forced to attend,' he said.
>
> But statements from him via his lawyer will be expected to be given in
> evidence.
>
> Williamson was resident at a seminary in Argentina when the Holocaust row
> broke and he was ordered out of the country by the government in Buenos
> Aires in February.
>
> When he arrived back in the UK he stoked further controversy when it was
> learned he contacted arch-Holocaust denier David Irving for advice on how
> to 'present' his views.
>
> Irving, who served time in Austria for his Holocaust denials, said: 'He is
> obviously a very intelligent man who did not realise the danger of talking
> to the press. He is not a Holocaust denier. Like me, he does not buy the
> whole package.'
>
> � 2009 Associated Newspapers Ltd
>