ThoughtCrime: 12/14/07
France's LePen on trial for "justification of war crimes"
Prosecutors have demanded that Jean-Marie Le Pen should be given
a five-month suspended prison sentence and a 10,000 euro fine for saying
that the Nazi occupation of France was "not particularly inhumane."
LePen is a French right-wing nationalist politician and the founder
and president of the Front National party.
Le Pen's has been put on trial for "justification of war crimes" and
"contesting
crimes against humanity." LePen has been persecuted in France for several
comments made throughout the years. The most famous of which was
referring to the Holocaust as
a detail of history
which resulted in a conviction in 1999.
The most recent charges involve a comment made in a 2005 interview
published in the magazine Rivarol. LePen was quoted as
follows:
"In France, at least, the German occupation was not particularly
inhumane, although there were some blunders, inevitable in a country
of 550,000 sq km."
The interview and comments angered the government, Jewish groups
and "anti-racism" organizations.
Even these clearly mild comments have fallen under
France's infamous "Gayssot"
law which makes Holocaust denial a crime, punishable by fines or
imprisonment.
Besides their attack on LePen, the prosecution also requested that the
head of Rivarol magazine, Marie-Luce Wacquez, be given a two-month suspended prison
sentence and be fined 5,000 euros. Futhermore, they have demanded
that the journalist who conducted the interview be fined 3,500 euros.
The Paris court is due to announce its verdict on Feb. 8. If LePen
is convicted, the French government has demonstrated its complete failure
in the protection of basic human rights including freedom of speech
and freedom of the press.
"Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death."
George Orwell
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