British historian, David Irving, was convicted in an Austrian court recently for the "crime" of denying the Holocaust. Irving pled guilty to the charge since he faced upward of ten years in jail. He will serve three years. Some people will say this is a good thing since the Holocaust was such a terrible thing. While there is no denying the Holocaust was a terrible thing, locking someone up for an opinion is a bad thing as well. It is also something that will come back to haunt Europe. Fascism equals fascism, and these "anti-hate-speech" laws are fascist. One can label Mr. Irving a "jerk" or "insensitive." But should the guy be locked up for three years for an opinion? He was not even calling for violence of any kind against any group. No, just the fact he had issues with the authenticity of the Holocaust placed him in jail. Scary stuff. Austria is certainly not the only place in Europe with these draconian laws. They are all over Europe. In Britain, British National Party Chairman, Nick Griffin, was recently put on trial for the crime of "incitement to commit racial hatred." In other words, he said politically incorrect things. He spoke of a need to cut back on immigration and fears that Britain would become a non-white nation. Well, half of America would be in jail if such things were a crime here. Luckily, he was found not guilty on some charges and the jury deadlocked on others. He still has to face a re-trial on the other charges. Again, no violent calls for assaults, murders, etc. Just a "right-wing" guy with views. In Germany, a guy was recently sentenced to a year in jail for printing the word "Koran" on toilet paper and then distributing it, some to mosques. What's next? Two years in jail for cartoons? Which of course brings us to the "infamous" cartoons. The cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad by a Danish newspaper has actually led to riots and death. Do you have any doubt arrests will occur for "anti-Mohammad" comments or publications? Europe had better come out of its politically correct period. They are making up for the Hitler era with Hitler policies. This cannot go on forever. Repression is always fought against, even if little by little. To lock up people for opinions and views not to the current liking of the government is fascism. There is no other way around it. To quote Mr. Irving, who will do three years for his opionion, "The law is an ass." No doubt. And one that simply will not be tolerated.

Robert Carberry is a freelance writer from New York