[Industrialblog,
February 21, 2006]
Speaking of Free Speech
Holocaust denial is also protected speech.
Germany and Austria have anti-nazi clauses in their constitutions, apparently. You're not allowed to go goose-stepping around and say the holocaust never happened.
Most of us probably have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it's probably a good idea for Germans/Austrians to keep a clamp on said goose-stepping. On the other, free speech is an inalienable right. It's not granted by a constitution; the right already exists and constitutions merely acknowledge what the people already possess. So Austria is violated David Irving's rights.
This is not, of course, to justify Irving's remarks. He deserves private censure, not a state-sanctioned punishment. But it looks like he's going to do three years.
VIENNA (Reuters) - British historian David Irving was sentenced to three years in prison for denying the Holocaust 17 years ago, an Austrian court ruled on Monday.
Germany and Austria have anti-nazi clauses in their constitutions, apparently. You're not allowed to go goose-stepping around and say the holocaust never happened.
Most of us probably have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it's probably a good idea for Germans/Austrians to keep a clamp on said goose-stepping. On the other, free speech is an inalienable right. It's not granted by a constitution; the right already exists and constitutions merely acknowledge what the people already possess. So Austria is violated David Irving's rights.
This is not, of course, to justify Irving's remarks. He deserves private censure, not a state-sanctioned punishment. But it looks like he's going to do three years.