Notorious Holocaust denier Haverbeck sentenced to prison without parole
Haverbeck is a notorious Holocaust denier who for decades has publicly disputed the genocide committed by the National Socialists against European Jews. In the extreme right-wing scene, she is popular for this. The woman living in North Rhine-Westphalia has been repeatedly prosecuted for incitement due to this.
In the current case, it concerned statements that Haverbeck made in April 2015 on the sidelines of a trial against the later convicted SS member Oskar Groening before the Lüneburg District Court and in a television interview. According to the indictment, she allegedly said that Concentration and Extermination Camp Auschwitz was only a labor camp. At the same time, she denied the mass murder that took place there.
The Hamburg Magistrate's Court sentenced Haverbeck for this in November 2015 to ten months in prison for incitement. She went into appeal, which is why the case is now back at the Hamburg Regional Court. The originally planned appeal proceedings, which were planned for 2018, were repeatedly delayed according to court statements - among other things due to the Coronapandemic and repeated illnesses of the parties involved.
The court assessed the punishment aggravatingly, according to the spokeswoman, among other things because Haverbeck used the trial to promote her theories again. In the proceedings, she spoke out several times herself, repeatedly repeating her statements about the Holocaust. In addition, numerous supporters of the 95-year-old attended the hearing on a Wednesday and repeatedly disrupted it with interruptions.
Four months of the sentence have been served according to the judgment due to the lengthy proceedings. According to the spokeswoman, this is because courts are obliged to release parts of the sentence in such cases.
The denial or trivialization of the Holocaust is punishable, if it occurs in assemblies or otherwise publicly in a way that disturbs the peace. As a special case of incitement, it is regulated in the Criminal Code. Penalties of fines or imprisonment can be imposed.
Whether Haverbeck has to serve the sentence is still unclear. The judgment is not yet legally binding and can be appealed. If it becomes legally binding, the prosecution would have to decide on the fitness to serve sentence of the accused in a separate proceeding. This is responsible as the executing authority for such questions.
The Hamburg Regional Court issued a comprehensive sentence on account of legal provisions. This included a conviction of Haverbeck by the Berlin Regional Court from 2022. It had sentenced her in a appeal proceeding to one year in prison suspended for two earlier convictions for incitement by Amtsgerichts. The matter concerned Haverbeck's statements in an interview and at an event.
- Ursula Haverbeck, a notorious Holocaust denier, was sentenced by the Hamburg Magistrate's Court to ten months in prison for incitement in November 2015.
- During a trial against Oskar Groening, Haverbeck reportedly stated that Auschwitz was only a labor camp and denied the mass murder that occurred there.
- The statement led to her sentencing, though Haverbeck later appealed the case, which is now back at the Hamburg Regional Court.
- The court found Haverbeck's actions aggravating, in part because she used the trial to promote her theories again.
- Four months of Haverbeck's sentence have already been served due to the lengthy proceedings, and she could potentially serve the remaining time if her conviction becomes legally binding.
- The prosecution must decide on Haverbeck's fitness to serve a sentence in a separate proceeding if the conviction becomes legally binding.
- The Regional Court in Berlin had previously sentenced Haverbeck to one year in prison suspended for two earlier convictions for incitement.
- The denial or trivialization of the Holocaust is punishable by law, and penalties of fines or imprisonment can be imposed for such actions, particularly when they are made publicly and disturb the peace.
