Austria jails 3 Neo-Nazis for up to 9 years

[Tender Branson]

Austrians jailed for glorifying Nazism

An Austrian court has convicted a leading neo-Nazi and two accomplices of glorifying Nazism through a website and sentenced them to prison terms of up to nine years.

Gottfried Kuessel was given a nine-year prison sentence on Thursday for being the founder of the "Alpen-Donau" website.

He spent time in prison in the 1990s on conviction of trying to form a successor to the Nazi party.



The two others - Felix Binder and Wilhelm Anderle - were sentenced to seven and four years respectively.

The website is no longer active, but defied years of Austrian efforts to shut it down because it was housed on a US server, which was protected by US free speech laws.

Austria bans glorification of the Nazi era.

http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=834600

http://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/oesterreich/politik/514879_Leitfigur-des-Rechtsextremismus.html

Good ...

[Ban my account ffs!]

How is this good?  It's just the other side of the same coin.  You'd better hope it doesn't flip again.

[Middle-aged Europe]

How is this good?  It's just the other side of the same coin.  You'd better hope it doesn't flip again.

Oversimplification of a more complex matter.

Adolf Hitler invaded Poland based on a flimsy justification, George W. Bush invaded Iraq based on a flimsy justification. Was it just the other side of the same coin or would this comparison oversimplify the matter??

[Franzl]

I don't exactly have any sympathy for neo-nazis, but I disagree with these laws.

[dead0man]

I don't exactly have any sympathy for neo-nazis, but I disagree with these laws.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Contrary to most of this forum, I am generally supportive of criminalizing hate speech. Still, 9 years is absolutely insane.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Imprisoning people for thinking the wrong things isn't cool. If our way is really the better way then it can triumph by the pen, rather than by the sword.

[Donerail]

     Imprisoning people for thinking the wrong things isn't cool. If our way is really the better way then it can triumph by the pen, rather than by the sword.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

I believe one should have the right to be an awful human being without fear of jailtime for their awful beliefs. Obviously this is Austria, not America, but remember that the 1st Amendment was meant specifically to protect unpopular speech by unpopular people.

[Cory]

I believe one should have the right to be an awful human being without fear of jailtime for their awful beliefs. Obviously this is Austria, not America, but remember that the 1st Amendment was meant specifically to protect unpopular speech by unpopular people.

This. I honestly don't understand how people who support these kinds of laws justify their beliefs intellectually.

[Redalgo]

    Imprisoning people for thinking the wrong things isn't cool. If our way is really the better way then it can triumph by the pen, rather than by the sword.

Aye - I agree completely with you here and, my respect of free speech aside, think it's all the more glorious to see Nazism openly vanquished time and again in the arena of public opinion based on its merits (or lack thereof) than for it to be repressed by the state in a way that leaves any doubt about its popular support, or otherwise emboldens the cadres by making martyrs of their leaders.