West Yorkshire, England – Two men who called Auschwitz a holiday camp for Jews have become the first in the UK to be convicted of inciting racial hatred online.
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The pair fled Britain for the US after being convicted of running an internet campaign.
But their hopes of being protected by the US free speech laws ended when they were held in custody for a year before being deported to face sentence in the UK.
At Leeds Crown Court, judge Rodney Grant referred to articles published by both men on a website run by Simon Sheppard.
He told them: “I have rarely seen or read material which is so insulting or abusive towards racial groups within our society.”
Sentencing Sheppard, 52, of Selby, Yorkshire, to four years and 10 months, he told him the articles were “offensive in the extreme”.
Disgusting Stephen Whittle, 42, of Preston, Lancashire, was jailed for two years and five months.
The judge told him five articles he published on the site were “full of hatred and disgusting and abusive in the extreme.”
Both men were found guilty of publishing racially inflammatory material.
The court had heard earlier articles attacked black people as “not the equal of whites” and the Holocaust was “treated in an insulting fashion and survivors held up to ridicule”.
The pair claimed they should be aquitted as the articles were posted on a server registered in the US and beyond UK law.
But in a groundbreaking decision, judge Grant determined the publication of the offending material took place when Sheppard and Whittle themselves uploaded the information.
This is very disturbing, and should not be applauded at all. The right to freedom of speech is not a creation of the US constitution. On the contrary the constitution recognises and protects a right that already existed and belongs to all people. It is not acceptable that in a country that pretends to be free, people are locked up for speaking their minds. The USA should have given them asylum and not turned them over to the thought police.
Good for them, May Hashem keep them alive, while the see all Jews are healthy and prosper, that will give some pain.
I understand free speech and peoples rght to speak their minds. have no problem with that.the uk takes holocust denial and all such negitive talk very serious. as well in this case it would not pay for the u.s. to bother making a issue of granting this 2 men aysilm they hold no value for the u.s. why fight with allies when we need their help with bigger problems. now of cousre this would have not been trebbile issue betwwen u.s. and uk but why make waves
May they live long lives in prison.
May we, as the Jewish people, continue to give the world new medicines and advances in medical improvements both in equipment and technology, while these two rot in jail and read about all the improvements contributed by the Jewish People.
Good bye, hate promoters.
If what is said in the article is true, than Jews in GB shoud seriously consider leaving. First we have a court dictating who is Jewish, then we see a person jailed for 5 years for celebrating Holocost and stating that Shwartzes are not equal to whites. Every religious Jew is guilty of celebrating Holocost of Amalekis, Knaanim etc.described in Tanach. As well as saying racist brochos every morning.
there a g-d in this word these men are filled with hate let them think about there crime behind bars