German lawyer for Zündel charged with incitement

Associated Press

BERLIN -- German prosecutors on Tuesday charged a lawyer for far-right activist Ernst Zündel with incitement, accusing her of denying the Holocaust and ending one of her legal filings with the words "Heil Hitler."

The lawyer, Sylvia Stolz, represented Mr. Zündel in his first trial, which collapsed after Ms. Stolz was banned from the proceedings on the grounds that she was trying to sabotage the trial.

Mr. Zündel's second trial at the Mannheim state court ended last month with his conviction for incitement for denying the Holocaust. He was sentenced to the maximum five years in prison.

Mannheim prosecutors said Ms. Stolz herself has now been charged with incitement, attempting to thwart a prosecution and using symbols of a banned organization.

During Mr. Zündel's trial, she repeatedly disputed the Nazis' mass murder of Jews, called for hatred of the Jewish population, and ended a legal document with the words "Heil Hitler," they said in a statement.

The document was freely accessible on the Internet, they said.

The prosecutors also accused Ms. Stolz of trying to "force an end to the proceedings" with constant interventions and "provocations" that disturbed the conduct of the trial.

The presiding judge halted Mr. Zündel's trial last March to ask for Ms. Stolz's removal after she denounced the court as a "tool of foreign domination" and described the Jews as an "enemy people" in earlier sessions.

In April, she was carried out of the courtroom, shouting, "Resistance! The German people are rising up," after defying an order for her removal.

Prosecutors also seek to ban Ms. Stolz from working as a lawyer.

Our dossier on Ernst Zündel

 

FAZ Leitartikel: 'Falsche Europäisierung,' - sober criticism of the laws under which Zündel and Mr Irving are imprisoned, argues strongly against any extension of these absurd laws

2004 flashback: Ernst Zündel charged with incitement in Germany

2005 flashback: "A good investment" - Cost to Canadians of sending Zündel to his native Germany: $130,000. "The cost of the trip is not of great concern to members of the Jewish community, said Bernie Farber, executive director of the Canadian Jewish Congress."