The Austrian daily, Standard and other Austrian media outlets have provided some additional details about the judge. For those who are championing Irving's release as an act of free speech triumphant, pay attention to the judge's background. It is not irrelevant that the presiding judge was Ernest Maurer who is a sympathizer of the right wing who has had some of his decisions overturned by the European Court for Human Rights because they unlawfully restricted freedom of the press. Apparently Maurer had ruled for Jorg Haider, leader of Austria's right wing, when he sued newspapers and commentators who criticized him. The Standard quotes from a decision by the judge in which he express classic Nazi ideologies including Rassereinheit (purity of race).
As I said in my previous post: this is not a simple matter of freedom of speech.
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