EU deal on 'diluted' legislation on Holocaust denial
BRUSSELS -- Holocaust denial will be punishable by jail terms across the EU -- but only if it incites violence or hatred against specific groups -- under measures due to be agreed today.
After six years of negotiation, the agreement is likely to be sealed, despite pressure from Baltic states for the crimes committed by Stalin to be brought into the scope of the law...
Consensus over the deal has been achieved by whittling away at the impact of the legislation, leaving a great deal of discretion to individual countries to implement their own law...
The latest draft text would criminalise those guilty of "publicly condoning or grossly trivialising" crimes of genocide recognised by the International Criminal Court "when the conduct is carried out in a manner likely to incite violence or hatred".
There will be no Europe-wide ban on the use of Nazi symbols -- one of the original objectives of the law's drafters. National legislation in many nations, including Germany and Austria, already goes much further and will remain in force in those countries. All 27 EU nations will have to ensure that maximum jail terms of one to three years are at the disposal of their courts. Britain's most severe tariff for such offences is already seven years.
Read entire article at Independent
After six years of negotiation, the agreement is likely to be sealed, despite pressure from Baltic states for the crimes committed by Stalin to be brought into the scope of the law...
Consensus over the deal has been achieved by whittling away at the impact of the legislation, leaving a great deal of discretion to individual countries to implement their own law...
The latest draft text would criminalise those guilty of "publicly condoning or grossly trivialising" crimes of genocide recognised by the International Criminal Court "when the conduct is carried out in a manner likely to incite violence or hatred".
There will be no Europe-wide ban on the use of Nazi symbols -- one of the original objectives of the law's drafters. National legislation in many nations, including Germany and Austria, already goes much further and will remain in force in those countries. All 27 EU nations will have to ensure that maximum jail terms of one to three years are at the disposal of their courts. Britain's most severe tariff for such offences is already seven years.