ThoughtCrime: 12/02/99
Manfred Roeder Sentenced for Holocaust Comment
An outspoken German Nationalist was sentenced Thursday to two years in
prison without parole for "denying" the Holocaust. Manfred Roeder, 70, was
sentenced for having referred to the Holocaust as "humbug" during an August
1998 election rally in the eastern German city of Stralsund.
With no First Amendment to protect them, Germans face legal action for
questioning the orthodox Holocaust story. The rally at which Roeder spoke
part of his parliamentary campaign as a candidate for the National Party
of Germany. His imprisonment clearly makes him a "political prisoner" in
Germany.
During his trial, Roeder said a tape of his speech had been "manipulated
and falsified." Roeder asserted that statements that would have cleared
him were edited out. The judge, however, agreed with three witnesses who
said the tape was genuine. The Roeder case exemplifies the lack of freedom
in today's Germany.
"Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death."
George Orwell
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