BRITISH HISTORIAN DAVID IRVING was ambushed by eight Austrian Staatspolizei (Stapo) officers at gunpoint on November 11, 2005 when visiting Vienna to speak to university students on Adolf Eichmann, Joel Brand, and British code-breaking revelations. The arrest warrant had been issued 16 years earlier, November 8, 1989, at the written demand (Anzeige) of a Communist-front body, the Dokumentations-Archiv des Osterreichischen Widerstands (Document Center of the Austrian Resistance), issued the day before, as court records revealed. Mr. Irving was charged under Austria's 1945 "Verbotsgesetz" (Banning Law) with having uttered illegal opinions on history at a 1989 talk. On February 20, 2006 at a show trial staged in Austria's largest criminal courtroom with 200 spectators, he was sentenced to three years in jail. His lawyers triumphed in the Court of Appeal and he was released on Dec 21, 2006 after 400 days in solitary confinement in Austria's oldest jailhouse. David Irving, photographed in Vienna on Nov 11, 2005, two hours before he was arrested for an "opinion-crime" committed sixteen years earlier Index on Austria's relations with David Irving How it all began: Volksstimme, Nov 8, 1989: Sperrfeuer gegen Irving - Zwei weitere Auftritte inzwischen verboten | and the communist Volksstimme: Nur noch vor 80 treuen konnte der neonazinahe „Historiker' Montag nacht in Wien reden (German) - the next day the arrest warrant was issued. Nov 8, 1989: After a communist-inspired riot in Vienna the socialist government issued an Arrest Warrant against David Irving at the behest of the Dokumentationsachiv des österreichischen Widerstands (i.e., Dr Erika Weinzierl). Nov 24. 1989: Mr Irving thanks his Austrian lawyer Dr Herbert Schaller June 22, 1992: Those nice folks next door: Flashback - the Austrian ambassador in London answers a demand from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, promises to arrest Mr Irving Mar 10, 1994: the Austrian Government tells Australia that an Arrest Warrant was issued against Mr Irving on Nov 8, 1989 | [ and original German text] Oct 2001: David Irvine, son of the Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine, is arrested in Vienna in mistake for the British writer Sep 2003: Austria jails Wolfgang Frölich for one year for distributing leaflets 'denying the Holocaust.' The sentence was later increased to seven years, and he was released in 2006 after Dr Herbert Schaller apppealed Mr Irving's arrest on Nov 11, 2005 Memoirs draft on the circumstances of Mr Irving's arrest Mr Irving's memoirs: The historian's dramatic arrest by armed Austrian police in November 2005 Our website first announces that David Irving has been arrested in Austria on Nov 10, 2005 Feb 2, 2006: How they prepared for the worst at the Vienna Show-Trial of David Irving [and German original] Feb 24, 2006: "Irving's girlfriend is left homeless and bitter" - The Daily Telegraph's Neil Tweedie skates on thin ice with a libellous article about Mr Irving three days after his sentencing, aware that there is a one-year limitation period on his ability to proceed against them for libel (oops! but now he's free) Flashback: The Age, Australia, was among first to report on Nov 19, 2005 Mr Irving's secret arrest | Neutral German-language summary by Wiener Nachrichten Online of the history of the legal persecution of Irving, 2000-2006 The blind fury of the German media at Mr Irving: NS-Revisionist David Irving in Wien inhaftiert (20. November 2005) David Irving bleibt in Wiener Untersuchungshaft (25. November 2005) David Irvings Prozess vermutlich im Februar (2. Dezember 2005) Gerichtszeugin schreibt sich warm &endash; Christa Zöchling im "Profil" (26. Dezember 2005) Erika Weinzierl: David Irving übt "gezielte Provokation des Staates" (27. Dezember 2005) Daily Telegraph interviews Mr Irving's brother, Feb 2006, and gets its leg pulled Gillian Reynolds comments on the BBC Radio Four broadcast on the 2000 Lipstadt trial (rebroadcast on the occasion of the Vienna trial) Letters written from his Austrian prison cell by David Irving to his friends, Nov 2005 to Dec 2006 Jan 2006, The Observer prints Malte Herwig's study of Mr Irving: "Hitler? Good in Parts" Daily Telegraph interviews Mr Irving's brother, Feb 2006, and gets its leg pulled In March 2006 Mr Irving wrote in German from his Vienna prison comparing the world press reaction to the three year jail sentence with the spiteful German and Austrian media David Irving: A Radical's Diary: The Appeal, and Release A very filthy cell. . . I lie down and wait for the glaring ceiling light to go out. It stays on all night.   Show Trial in Vienna, Feb 20, 2006 How the Judge prepared for the worst at the Vienna Show-Trial of David Irving on Feb 2, 2006 [and German original] Feb 22, 2006: The Irish Times says the imprisonment of David Irving displays European hypocrisy towards Jews. "I have read most of David Irving's works. He is a brilliant researcher, is partly mad, and is clearly bad. But those who say he denies the Nazi programme of genocide of Jews simply haven't read his writings." Mr Irving's autobiography, continued: The show trial in Vienna Radical's Diary: The trial Daily Telegraph interviews Mr Irving's brother, Feb 2006, and gets its leg pulled Gillian Reynolds comments on the BBC Radio Four broadcast on the 2000 Lipstadt trial (rebroadcast on the occasion of the Vienna trial) Kate Connolly, right, The Daily Telegraph's Berlin correspondent. Read her web diary, Feb 21, 2006, the day after the Irving trial in Vienna: "The interesting tale of David Irving" and the scores of supporting letters she received David Irving zu drei Jahren Haft verurteilt - Bildvorschau (20. Februar 2006) My perfect place to hang Irving kvells Giles Coren in The Times | and David Irving's answer IMPRISONMENT 2005-2006 awaiting appeal Der Spiegel asks a German historian, Hans-Ulrich Wehler, should British historian David Irving be placed behind bars? He says: "Pity for this Man is Out of Place" Australian Jewish News: Irving should not be censored, said Prof Singer in June 2006 Letters written from his Austrian prison cell by David Irving to his friends, November 2005 to December 2006 Mr Irving's memoirs: Incarceration in Austria's oldest jail: charged with serious thought-crime Mr Irving's appeal court victory on Dec 20, 2006 David Irving: A Radical's Diary: The Appeal, and Release A very filthy cell. . . I lie down and wait for the glaring ceiling light to go out. It stays on all night. BBC: Irving not remorseful after jail : David Irving complains he was jailed for expressing "wrong views" BBC: Reactions to Irving release An Austrian court's decision to release on probation UK historian David Irving - jailed for Holocaust denial - has prompted dismay among international Jewish organisations BBC: Irving not remorseful after jail : David Irving complains he was jailed for expressing "wrong views" Vienna's left wing press whines at the Judge who ordered Mr Irving's release The right wing judge gets grouchy | German original PRESS CONFERENCE, London, Dec 22, 2006 and aftermath Click here for hi-res images of David Irving's Dec 22, 2006 press conference in London: [1][2] [3] [4] >> David Irving: A Radical's Diary: The Appeal, and Release A very filthy cell. . . I lie down and wait for the glaring ceiling light to go out. It stays on all night. The tragedy is that David Irving has emerged as a champion of free speech, says Joan Bakewell Letters to Deutsche Welle - a German-government website - unanimously praise David Irving and his appeal court victory American Free Press: David Irving is Back in London - was Railroaded into Jail by his own Attorney Lipstadt changes her spots. Remember how Deborah Lipstadt wailed that it was a crime for David Irving to be imprisoned for his opinions? Well, now she's wailing that it is a crime for him to be released. See her web campaign against the right-minded Austrian judge: Irving given probation | Judges in Irving's probation hearing [sic] | More on Judge in Irving's Austrian case Irving says will bring Austria before UN Human Rights Council | Wiener Zeitung: Irving geht vor Menschenrechtsrat der Vereinten Nationen | Austrian Socialist party demands only Left-wing judges try such cases in future: OLG-Entscheidung nicht nachvollziehbar: Es stellt sich die Frage, ob Richter Maurer der geeignete Senatsvorsitzende in einer solchen Sache ist | Why was David Irving allowed out of Jail? asks Wiesenthal Center's Efraim Zuroff | YNet, Israel: Law without justice BBC video of Mr Irving's Dec 22 London press conference: video | audio | interview with an opponent (three times longer) BBC Today radio dialogue between star interviewer John Humphreys and Mr Irving on Dec 23, 2005: He shows no remorse Here's an odd thing The result of the post-trial History News Network poll "Jail David Irving?" has been removed - but all the other postings have been left on | Flashback to Jun 2000: Australian poll, should historians be silenced? RAW writes Sunday, January 7, 2007 10:41 pm: "I just finished listening to audio of a BBC reporter interviewing you after your release. What jackasses these people are!" Canadian Online newspaper Orato exclusive: "Holocaust Historian David Irving Released From Prison: His First Interview From The Outside" Vienna's left wing press whining at the Judge who ordered Mr Irving's release The right wing judge gets grouchy | German original | Germany wants Holocaust denial to be EU-wide crime [Memo to Berlin: you blew it last time you tried to call the shots, in 1945; remember?] | International Herald Tribune: Berlin seeks to bar Holocaust denial in EU On Jan 7 the brilliant journalist Christopher Hitchens (right) on TV Ontario defended the right of David Irving not be imprisoned in Austria for his views. [audio link or Click this link and then "Christopher Hitchens" - each time we post the actual TVO link it is changed]. In German: Deutsche National Zeitung publishes Exklusiv-Interview mit Irving: „Ich habe im Gefängnis 4.000 Seiten geschrieben" David Irving ist frei - jetzt geht er in die Offensive John Gilchrist discovers why Amnesty International sat on its hands while Austria imprisoned David Irving for an opinion Michael Wutton comments on the proliference of anti-revisionist legislation in Europe Profil attack on attorney Dr Schaller by Christa Zöchling, the journalist whose mistaken evidence wasa used to convict Mr Irving in 2005 [360 kb]   Contributions for Mr Irving's legal battle should be made via our Secure webpage. Contributions to the "David Irving Fighting Fund" can also be mailed to PO Box 1707, Key West, FL 33041, USA; or to Bente Hogh, 50 Sloane Street, London SW1X 9SN, UK. Mr Irving will personally acknowledge all. [Become a regular monthly supporter].

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David Irving's legal attorney is Dr. Herbert Schaller, Verteidiger in Strafsachen, Gusshausstrasse 6, A-1040 Vienna, Austria. Telephone/fax no +43.1.505 2627.