Lawyers debate whether Nazism led to Holocaust, as Montreal hate speech trial resumes

By The Canadian Press on November 25, 2022.

MONTREAL – Lawyers in a hate speech trial in Montreal are debating whether it is well-established that Nazism led to the Holocaust.

The trial involves Gabriel Sohier Chaput, 36, who faces one charge of wilfully promoting hatred in connection with an article he wrote for neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer.

In July, Quebec court Judge Manlio Del Negro rebuked the prosecution for not calling an expert witness to establish that the murder of Jews by the regime of Adolf Hitler was a consequence of Nazi ideology.

The judge then called both sides back to court to debate whether it is common knowledge that the Daily Stormer is a far-right website and whether Nazism did indeed lead to a genocide against Europe’s Jews.

Defence lawyer Hélène Poussard argued today that without expert testimony, the judge cannot accept as a fact that the Nazis killed six million Jews during the Holocaust.

Her arguments will continue this afternoon, followed by a response from the prosecution.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2022.

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