Holocaust denial becomes illegal in the Netherlands
Anyone who violates the ban on Holocaust denial risks a jail term of up to a year. Photo AFP, Thomas Kienzle
Western Europe
Holocaust denial will be included explicitly in the Dutch Criminal Code. That means it is illegal by law to "deny, down-play or condone" the mass murder of the Jews during the Second World War.
The ban on such actions protects relatives from victims of genocide or other war crimes against "exceptionally hurting expressions that deny or down-play this kind of international crimes", the Dutch government writes on its website. The ban comes as an addition to the crimes of discrimination and racism.
Justice Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, who was behind the initiative, says that "denial of this sort of terrible crimes against humanity is something that happens daily." She often notices that the "monster of anti-Semitism" raises its head, and it worries her. "This is about good and evil and about raising your voice if you see the one change into the other. Let's keep telling these stories, especially when the victims of these crimes are more and more unable to do so themselves. Not timidly and whispering, but self-conscious and full of conviction."
Anyone who violates the ban on Holocaust denial risks a jail term of up to a year.
The addition to the criminal code is part of the obligations of the Netherlands to the European Union, which ordered states to criminalise certain forms of publicly denying, down-playing or condoning war crimes, the European Jewish Congres reports.
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