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From: robertj@garfield.UUCP (Robert Janes)
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: Zundel(section 177 of CCC)
Message-ID: <2731@garfield.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 14-Apr-85 16:01:45 EST
Article-I.D.: garfield.2731
Posted: Sun Apr 14 16:01:45 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 15-Apr-85 23:23:10 EST
References: <890@ubc-vision.CDN> <6@aquila.UUCP> <997@ubc-cs.UUCP> <578@lsuc.UUCP> <1004@ubc-cs.UUCP>
Reply-To: robertj@garfield.UUCP (Robert Janes)
Organization: Memorial U. of Nfld. C.S. Dept., St. John's
Lines: 25
Summary: section 177 not a big problem


	To be brief, I do not see that section 177 of the criminal code as all
that great a danger. The crime of spreading false news has been on the books
since well before Confederation in one form or another. Before the Zundel trial
there had been a grand total of three prosecutions under this section one of
which had been succesful. The reason that 177 was used in the Zundel case was
that unlike that the other sections of the CCC concerned with promoting hatred
(see Jim Keegstra) charges under this section can be brought by bodies other
than the government. The government of Ontario showed no interest in prosecuting
Zundel so another body (the Jewish Defense League ??) brought the charges and
the Crown Prosecutor was called in because this was a felony charge and in the 
public interest....

	It is unlikely that we will see a spate of such charges in the future
simply due to what happened at the Zundel trial. Zundel got one of the biggest
soapboxes in Canada and could potray himself as a martyr being persecuted by the
government, the Zionists and the Masons. In future we may see such trials 
taking place in civil courts where the situation is slightly different. As for
177 itself it is a nice law to have around to force the Crown to what it should
or maybe should be doing. As long as such trials take place **AFTER** a person
has published something and not before I feel there's no need to hunker down
on the freedom of speech issue.

						Robert Janes
						Memorial University