Right-wing extremist and former NPD lawyer Horst Mahler has been sentenced to six years in prison by the Munich Regional Court for incitement of the people. On Wednesday, the presiding judge Martin Rieder justified the high sentence by saying that the defendant was "completely undiscerning and unteachable".
In addition, Mahler's extensive confession at the beginning of the trial could not be considered a mitigating factor, as he did not show any remorse. Only the 73-year-old's age could be cited in his favor. "The defendant is even proud of his actions," said Rieder.Mahler had turned himself in in November 2007 because of the distribution of the book of the Holocaust denier Germar Rudolf "Lectures on the Holocaust", which was banned by the Verfangsschutz (the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution). The book denies, among other things, the systematic mass murder of Jews during the Nazi regime in Germany. In addition, Mahler had distributed CD-ROMs with a speech in which he himself calls the Holocaust the "most consequential lie in world history".Rieder, who met the prosecution's demand with the sentence, also stressed that "the continuation of the criminal conduct during the main hearing" should have been weighted against the defendant. Already on the first day of the trial in January there had been incidents. Rieder had to repeatedly call Mahler to order when he again called the Holocaust a "lie" in court. Finally, the defendant was initially prohibited from further oral pleas. Mahler's numerous previous convictions for right-wing extremist crimes also had an incriminating effect.Rieder emphasized that the last word of the defendant, which he had extended over almost twelve hours and several days of trial, "did not impress the court". Mahler had called himself, among other things, an "enlightened man" and a "savior of Christianity" and announced that he would continue his fight against the "Holocaust lie". This should prevent a six-year prison sentence, according to Rieder. "The Horst Mahler show is now over," the judge said at the end of the trial.He ordered immediate execution of sentence because of the risk of flight. Mahler had already appeared at the sentencing with a packed suitcase. He accepted the verdict without comment and apparently completely relaxed.Senior public prosecutor Andrea Titz expressed her satisfaction with the outcome of the trial. "We hope the verdict will deter other potential criminals from such acts in the future," it said. Mahler's defense already announced during the trial that it wanted to submit the proceedings to the trial court in order to have it examined whether the incitement of the people paragraph of the penal code, on which the prosecution relies, is in line with the law.