British Holocaust denier given suspended sentence for antisemitic songs
Alison Chabloz receives year-long social media ban
Alison Chabloz, a British blogger and Holocaust denier, was sentenced on Thursday to 20 weeks in prison – suspended for two years – for sharing antisemitic songs online.
In addition to the suspended sentence, Chabloz was banned from social media for one year and ordered to complete 180 hours of community service.
Chabloz was convicted last month on three counts of sharing “grossly offensive” content. The lawsuit was first brought privately by the British NGO Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) in late 2016. In October 2017, the Crown Prosecution Service took over the prosecution of Chabloz.
“This sentence sends a strong message that in Britain, Holocaust denial and antisemitic conspiracy theories will not be tolerated,” said CAA chairman Gideon Falter in a statement after the sentencing. “Alison Chabloz is a remorseless and repulsive antisemite who has spent years obsessively inciting others to hate Jews, principally by claiming that the Holocaust was a hoax perpetrated by Jews to defraud the world.”
Last month, District Judge John Zani, of the Westminster Magistrate’s Court, found Chabloz guilty of three criminal offenses under the terms of the Communications Act.
“It appears to this court that no proper remorse is forthcoming from you,” Zani said in court on Thursday, according to CAA. “I don’t know whether you want to be a martyr to your cause. Only time will tell. This sentence will test your resolve. If you fail to abide by the terms of the suspended sentence, you should expect to go to prison.”
The songs in question, written by Chabloz, decry Jewish control of the world and deny the Holocaust. According to CAA, the lyrics included: “Did the Holocaust ever happen?/ Was it just a bunch of lies?/ Seems that some intend to pull the wool over our eyes/ Eternal wandering liars haven’t got a clue/And when it comes to usury/Victim’s always me and you.” Other songs said Auschwitz was a “proven hoax” and that Jews “Control all your media/Control your books and TV.”
According to the BBC, when Chabloz was questioned in court in March, she claimed there was no historical evidence that gas chambers were used to kill people during the Holocaust.
The 2003 Communications Act was also the basis of the conviction earlier this year of a Scottish comedian who posted a video online in which he showed himself teaching his dog the Nazi salute. That man, Mark Meechan, was fined £800 by the Airdrie Sheriff Court in Scotland in April.