British revisionist historian David Irving is being held in Austria under laws against denying the Holocaust.
An interior ministry spokesman said police in the province of Styria acted on a warrant issued in 1989 to arrest him last Friday.
Mr Irving was on his way to give a lecture in the capital, Vienna.
In his books, Mr Irving has argued that the scale of the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis in World War II has been exaggerated.
He also claimed that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler knew nothing of the Holocaust.
He told a libel hearing in London in 2000 that there had been no gas chambers at the Auschwitz camp.
...
The chairman of the Holocaust Educational Trust, Lord Greville Janner, said he hoped the move would "lead to a successful prosecution".
The head of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust said denial was not a matter of opinion.
"Austrian law demands incisive action to protect its citizens from a repeat of the past," he added.
Many Japanese people, including high-ranking politicians, deny or play down the scale of many of the Japanese atrocities committed during WWII, the most famous of which (but accounting for only about 1% of the victims) is the Nanjing Massacre of 1937. Some Japanese historians writing government-approved school textbooks talk of "Japanese advance" rather than invasion, of the "Nanjing Incident" rather than massacre, and completely leave out most or all other atrocities, which left more casualties than the Nazi holocaust. Such Japanese also insist that the Japanese Emperor (Hirohito) was completely unaware of what was happening, or if he knew he had no power to stop it (which is of course false, given his divine status, and as explained by his biographer Herbet Bix in his book Hirohito and the making of modern Japan).
In my view, such people are as much holocaust deniers as David Irving, and more dangerous to society, as they proseltise their ideas in schools, reaching millions of teenagers with little critical sense.
Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara has long played down the scale of the Nanjing Massacre and uttered many racist comments. Yesterday, the newly appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe declared that "The government should not look into the responsibility of the accused Class-A war criminals honored at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine" (see article).
It would be utterly hypocritical for the Austrian, British or any other country's government to arrest and prosecute people like David Irving, but not Japanese historians, politicians or other individuals denying or playing the Japanese Holocaust, the responsibility of the emperor or paying homage to convicted class-A war criminals. If the Austrian authorities have the power to arrest a British citizen for what he says about the German Holocaust, then they have the power to arrest Japanese citizens on the same grounds. I want to see all Japanese holocaust deniers arrested when they set foot in Europe, or the immediate release of anybody held for similar charges.
As a matter of legal principle, national laws are to be applied to every person within territorial borders, regardless of the person's nationality - unless international treaties or bilateral agreements stipulate something else. Therefore, non-Austrian citizens as well are subject to the stipulations of the Austrian "Wiederbetaetigungsgesetze" (a set of laws banning national-socialist activities such as the dissemination of Nazi propaganda, the denial of Nazi atrocities committed during WWII, even the display of Nazi swastikas, etc).
As far as I remember, this is not the first time Mr. Irving has been arrested in Austria. I see no reason why Japanese holocaust deniers setting foot onto European soil (and committing these crimes in a European country*, such as in this case, Austria) should be exempted from these provisions.
As an Austrian citizen I am quite proud of the fact that the judicial authorities in Austria seem to have changed their approach to the strict application of the "Wiederbetaetigungsgesetze" (probably a generational change within state prosecution). The number of cases against former and neo-Nazis has been surging lately, penalties have been significantly tightened.
* Mr. Irving disseminates his revisionist historical views not only through his books, but also in extended lecturing tours he holds all over the world. It seems he has been arrested by Austrian authorities in the course of such a tour.
I see no reason why Japanese holocaust deniers setting foot onto European soil (and committing these crimes in a European country*, such as in this case, Austria) should be exempted from these provisions.
* Mr. Irving disseminates his revisionist historical views not only through his books, but also in extended lecturing tours he holds all over the world. It seems he has been arrested by Austrian authorities in the course of such a tour.
So if a notorious holocaust denier visits Austria and does not raise the subject while in Austria, then nothing can be done against him/her ?
German/Canadian Holocaust denier/Activist Ernst Zundel was recently deported from this country after many years of activity ... and was met by German Police.
So if a notorious holocaust denier visits Austria and does not raise the subject while in Austria, then nothing can be done against him/her ?
Most national legislations adhere to the territorial principle: all the crimes committed (by its own citizens or foreign nationals likewise) on national territories can be prosecuted. Some countries extend this principle and prosecute criminal cases committed by their own nationals in other countries (I'm aware of such regulations in regard to sexual crimes and sex tourism; but then again, these regulations are based on international agreements).
Prosecuting any kind of crime committed by any national anywhere is legally not feasible. If I'm not wrong, Belgium has/has had such a law in regard to human rights violations. Logically, the scope of criminal cases that can be brought in front of national courts has to be limited. For this reason and in the light of the territorial principle you can't do much against a law-abiding holocaust denier, unless there's an international arrest warrant for crimes committed elsewhere.
Good link Maciamo, to the Japan Tmes article. It just shows how pathetic the Japanese governments (public) attempts at justifying the PM's visit to Yasukuni really are.
Good link Maciamo, to the Japan Tmes article. It just shows how pathetic the Japanese governments (public) attempts at justifying the PM's visit to Yasukuni really are.
wtf
You know nothing about Yasukuni shrine.
If Bush visits the tomb at Arlington National Cemetery as representative of all the people, are you offended?
If you hate the US, what about France?
If Chirac visits the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris(?), are you offended?
It is crude intervention in Japan's affairs that China and Korea
are against Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni.
EVERY NATION HAS THE RIGHT TO HONOR ITS WAR DEAD.
btw, I always laugh whenever I see Westerners talking about the past crimes in earnest and think it is meaningless for both people, them and the Japanese. hehe..
Let's have progressive ideas.
We live in the present, not the past.
It's irrelevant if I know anything about Yasukuni shrine, since I was not referring to it. You know nothing about politics.
If Bush visits the tomb at Arlington National Cemetery as representative of all the people, are you offended?
I'm only offended by stupidity. This is something you seem to know a lot about.
It is crude intervention in Japan's affairs that China and Korea
are against Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni.
What is crude about it? It's completely normal for states to criticise other states when its in their interests. It has nothing to do with Japan's affairs, but relations between states. Are you really so arrogant and deluded to think that the Chinese or Korean governments care about what you as an individual think or do?
Let's have progressive ideas.
Where's yours?
We live in the present, not the past.
So you are suggesting that state and institutional memory is wiped every generation? Do you really think that the length of one human life is anything more than the blink of an eye in terms of the length of relations between Japan and China?
If Bush visits the tomb at Arlington National Cemetery as representative of all the people, are you offended?
If you hate the US, what about France?
If Chirac visits the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris(?), are you offended?
It is crude intervention in Japan's affairs that China and Korea
are against Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni.
EVERY NATION HAS THE RIGHT TO HONOR ITS WAR DEAD.
btw, I always laugh whenever I see Westerners talking about the past crimes in earnest and think it is meaningless for both people, them and the Japanese. hehe..
Let's have progressive ideas.
We live in the present, not the past.
Tokyoite, your comment is exactly the kind of ignorance that I despise the most. You provide no arguments, only meaningless assumptions. You provide no logical premises, only faulty conclusions. Basically, you're a second-hand mouthpiece for already-blind ultranationalists.
Enough of this. There are other threads that are more relevant than this, which is more about ramifications of war-crime-denial (not justification, however ill-founded); either refine your comments so that they'd be more relevant to the topic, or redirect yourself to one of the war atrocities threads where we can have a discussion (although your lack of following up on obviously volatile remarks, as in This One and This One suggests a lack of thought to the matter anyway).
PS- adding "cute" smiley with your derogatory and offensive comment makes your post look even more ridiculous. Laugh all you want- you're only digging yourself in deeper.
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Could Japanese "holocaust-deniers" be arrested in Europe ?
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