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Real History and the decline of Free Speech in Europe The Index to the Traditional Enemies of Free Speech Alphabetical index (text) [images and captions added by this we bsite] Expatica Belgian Holocaust denier held at Schiphol BRUSSELS — Belgian negationist [ European word for Holocaust denier ] and extreme-rights publicist Siegfried Verbeke has been arrested at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam [ Holland ] and might be
extradited to Germany for trial. A German judge issued an international arrest warrant against Verbeke at the end of last year because he cast doubt over the internet whether the Nazis actually killed six million Jews in World War II. David Irving comments: FOR ten years the German Government also tried to have me extradited to stand trial in their country for books I have written around the world and for a talk I gave in 1990 in Germany.
They reverted to it on the very first day of the Lipstadt trial in London. Jack “Lugubrious” Straw , when Home Secretary in Britain, instructed his senior staff to facilitate their application (although even the Germans did not expect to succeed, as their own internal documents, obtained by my lawyers, showed that they recognized that the charges against me were purely political, and as such not covered by the European Convention).
Several times Scotland Yard’s weary officers pounded the path up to my front door in Grosvenor Square — but each time, as luck would have it (and I assume they knew it) I was overseas. Thereafter letters from The Office of International Organized Crime thudded onto my doormat with much regularity. At first I thought they must be from the Oval Office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but they turned out to be from Scotland Yard’s SO.1 Branch, asking to make “an appointment” at Germany’s request.
So much for free speech in that much-suffering country. It is theoretically guaranteed by the very first clause of their Basic Law, to which however, in an Orwellian afterthought, have subsequently been added the words: Some Restrictions Apply. Napoleon the Pig still rules in the Federal Republic of Germany . Germany asked Belgium to extradite Verbeke, of Kortrijk, last year but a Belgian judge refused the request, Belgian newspaper ‘De Standaard’ reported on Friday [August 5, 2005].
Verbeke has already been convicted in Belgium for negationism. The appeals court in Antwerp sentenced him in April this year to a maximum one-year jail term and a EUR 2,500 fine for breaching negationist and anti-racism laws. The 63-year-old Verbeke has been the head of the Free Historical Research centre ( VHO ) since 1983. The centre publishes books in which the Holocaust is denied or downplayed.
Verbeke has used the principle of freedom of speech to defend himself in the past and is a renowned figure across Europe. He holds links with various extreme-rights groups across the continent, Flemish broadcaster VRT reported. ©