Hungarian president signs law criminalizing Holocaust denial

Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom signed on Wednesday a law declaring holocaust denial or denigration as a criminal offense, stating that this was not the freedom of speech protected by the constitution.

Speaking on Wednesday following the signature, the president's office manager Ferenc Kumin said that in limited cases which included protection of national symbols such as the flag and the banning of symbols of dictatorship, such as the Nazi swastika, the constitution allowed the criminalization of certain types of speech and therefore Holocaust denial had to be judged differently from freedom of speech in general.

Parliament passed the law criminalizing Holocaust denial on Feb. 22, the last day of its final session preceding April parliamentary elections. The law calls for up to three years of imprisonment for public denial that the Holocaust took place, for questioning whether it took place or for underplaying its significance.

The head of the Association of Jewish Communities in Hungary called the new law an important tool in combating anti-Semitism.

The head of the prime minister's office responsible for Roma affairs said that the law had allowed Hungary to join other countries of Europe in protecting human dignity.

The new law takes effect thirty days after its promulgation.

Source: Xinhua