SPANISH COURT RULES OUT JAIL SENTENCES FOR HOLOCAUST DENIAL

By Assaf Uni, Haaretz Correspondent in Berlin

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=922334&contrassID=0&subContrassID=0


Spain's Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that Holocaust denial will not be
punishable by imprisonment, saying it falls within freedom of speech. 

Spanish law had mandated a sentence of up to two years in prison for Holocaust
denial. But the court, which deliberated on the case following the trial of a
neo-Nazi activist, ruled that such a punishment was unconstitutional. 

It did, however, rule that imprisonment is a constitutional punishment for any
individual convicted of justifying the Holocaust or any other genocide. 
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The court is expected to release the full ruling in the coming days. 

Deliberations on the case began in 1996 with the trial of a Barcelona bookshop
owner, Pedro Valera, who had been distributing neo-Nazi material. Valera was
convicted and sentenced to five years in prison and a monetary fine, but the
Barcelona high court suspended the sentence pending the Constitutional Court ruling.