Sunday, February 10, 2008

No free speech in France

How well the French were treated by the Germans during the German occupation of France in WWII is a matter of opinion -- depending on what comparisons you make. But there is only one opinion that you are allowed to utter in France:

"The French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen received a three-month suspended jail sentence for describing the Nazi occupation of France as "not especially inhumane".

Le Pen, 79, the leader of the National Front, was found guilty of denying a crime against humanity and complicity in condoning war crimes, over the remarks he made in an interview with the far-right magazine Rivarol in 2005. He was also fined 10,000 euros.

Le Pen, who said in the interview that German excesses in France were inevitable, did not attend the hearing, but his lawyer said that he was certain to start an appeal.

Source