ERNST ZÜNDEL/ The Zündelsite -- a "telephone"?Source: M2 PRESSWIRE December 23, 1996 M2 PRESSWIRE via Individual Inc. : In a rapidly broadening global controversy involving a US-based website, a German-born Canadian Human Rights activist, Ernst Zündel, is fighting for his right to publish an alternate version of the Holocaust on the Internet, located on a US server in California. A Jewish organization engaged in preserving the traditional version of the Holocaust is trying to block his documents by having the world-renown "Zündelsite" labeled as a "telephone." "Germans are entitled to discuss and debate their own history," said Zündel, a controversial Toronto-based publisher and broadcaster. "I am challenging the Canadian Human Rights Commission on the grounds that they have failed to observe and respect the provisions of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act." "Hate law" complaints were laid by Zündel's long-time detractor, Sabina Citron, and the Toronto Mayor's Committee on Community and Race Relations. These complaints allege that Zündel is discriminating against Jews by publishing his opinions on the Zündelsite which makes available to readers a German view of World War II. Zündel claims it is the other way around. "Germans are part of the mosaic of the world," says Zündel. "We are not second-class citizens who must forever be silent when our own history is distorted and misrepresented by the media." Zündel has applied in the Federal Court of Canada for judicial review of the decision of the Canadian Human Rights Commission to proceed on two complaints against him under Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. The judicial review application also questions the jurisdiction of the Canadian Human Rights Commission over the Internet. Zündel pointed out that the Internet is a revolutionary and completely different medium than the telephone taped messages section 13 was passed to regulate in 1977. The application also alleges the Commission has violated the Canadian Multiculturalism Act. Zündel pointed out that the adversarial system of justice which exists in Canada assumes that the clash of opposing views will produce the truth. "This is also true of historical debates," said Zündel. "Truth will not be served when one side is bound and gagged." Zündel was acquitted in 1992 on charges of "spreading false news" laid by Citron in 1983. The Supreme Court of Canada held that the section violated Canada's guarantees to freedom of expression. Zündel's court application alleges that the complaints of Citron and the Mayor's Committee are an abuse of process and vexatious in that they involve the same opinions and views for which he has been investigated and unsuccessfully prosecuted during the past 16 years by various quasi-judicial bodies and courts. Frequent demands by Jewish groups over the years that Zündel be charged under Canada's hate laws have been refused by various Attorney Generals of Ontario, including Roy McMurtry, Marion Boyd, and Charles Harnick. "The Commission is attempting to use an old piece of legislation designed for telephones to control the newest and most revolutionary and interactive medium ever invented." said Zündel. "If my opinions are incorrect, then readers on the Internet are only a mouse click away from literally thousands of pages of rebuttals on websites such as Nizkor." The Nizkor web page is dedicated to rebutting Zündel's views. The Zündelsite has been linked electronically to Nizkor for a year and has recently linked to the Simon Wiesenthal Center website and one other Jewish website. Papers obtained under the Access to Information Act from the Canadian Human Rights Commission indicated that its Policy and Planning Director, Harvey Goldberg, appeared to classify Zündel's opinions on World War II as "hate" with no prior investigation or consultation concerning their truth or falsity or value. The Zündelsite can be found at http://www.zundelsite.org/ *M2 COMMUNICATIONS DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY FOR INFORMATION PROVIDED WITHIN M2 PRESSWIRE. DATA SUPPLIED BY NAMED PARTY/PARTIES.*
M2 PRESSWIRE -- 12/23/96
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