Landtagssitzung Schwerin 19-06-2013 by Ralf Roletschek 30

Udo Pastörs (born 1952) is a German politician and convicted

Holocaust denier Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

. He is the former leader of the

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of bein ...

NPD, and served as a representative in the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Personal life

Pastörs was born on 24 August 1952 in Wegberg,

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. His learned profession is that of a clockmaker. He is married and has one daughter with his wife, Marianne Pastörs. He joined the NPD in 2000. In 2005 he became the leader of the party in

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in pop ...

. He was first elected to state parliament in 2006, receiving 7.3% of the vote. He has been leading the party fraction since 2006.

Controversies

In a speech on 25 February 2009, Pastörs referred to the Federal Republic of Germany as a "Jew republic", to Turkish-German men as "semen cannons", and to Alan Greenspan as a " hook-nose". A local court found him guilty of " incitement of popular hatred" in May 2010, sentencing him to a

suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...

of ten months and a €6,000 fine.

2019 European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR) Decision

On 3 October 2019, the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

unanimously decided on the case Pastörs v. Germany (application no. 55225/14) that a decision from the German Courts sentencing him to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended on probation, based on the fact that a speech made by German politician Udo Pastörs stating that “the so-called Holocaust is being used for political and commercial purposes”, as well as other holocaust denial comments, incurred in violation of the memory of the dead and of the intentional defamation of the Jewish people was not a violation of the Article 10 (

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

) of the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...

. Also, the ECtHR also decided by four votes to three that there had been no violation of Article 6 § 1 (

right to a fair trial A fair trial is a trial which is "conducted fairly, justly, and with procedural regularity by an impartial judge". Various rights associated with a fair trial are explicitly proclaimed in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, th ...

) of the

."Holocaust denial is not protected by the European Convention on Human Rights"
''

'', 3 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.

References

External links

Udo Pastörs

* (German
Udo Pastörs
(Website of Parliament of the State of

) * (German
Udo Pastörs
(NPD party website) * (German

(Kandidatenwatch.de)

Criticism

* (German
Gernot Knödler: NPD will nicht stolpern
taz Nord vom 17. Juni 2006 * (German
Lagebericht Rechtsextremismus März 2006
* (German

* (German

* (German) ttp://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,489966,00.html Spiegel.de: NPD-Fraktionschef nach Hetzrede im Visier der Staatsanwaltschaft {{DEFAULTSORT:Pastors, Udo 1952 births German nationalists Living people Members of the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania National Democratic Party of Germany politicians People from Wegberg German people convicted of Holocaust denial