Spanish
Jewish leader urges jail terms for Holocaust
denial
by: AFP
MADRID (AFP)--The leader of
Spain's Federation of Jewish Communities on
Monday urged lawmakers to make denial of the
Holocaust once again punishable by imprisonment.
Spanish law had mandated a sentence of up to two
years in prison for Holocaust denial but in
November Spain's Constitutional Court ruled it
falls within freedom of speech and would no
longer be punishable with jail.
The court however ruled that imprisonment is
a constitutional punishment for any individual
convicted of justifying the Holocaust or any
other genocide.
In an address to parliament, the federation
leader Jacobo Israel Garzon asked
lawmakers to "think about how to once again
introduce prison terms for Holocaust denial in
the penal code".
Holocaust denial is "the threshold of hate
speech" and its "depenalisation" could lead to
the rise in the distribution of Nazi propoganda,
he added.
Holocaust denial is specifically targeted by
laws in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany,
Poland and Romania.
In April 2007 the European Union made
inciting racism and xenophobia crimes throughout
its 27 member states in a landmark decision
tempered by caveats to appease free speech
concerns.