Williamson v. Germany, dec., No. 64496/17, ECtHR (Fifth Section), 8 January 2019

Denial and downplaying of the genocide perpetrated against the Jews in a TV show. Lawful interference with freedom of expression.

Art. 10 ECHR

1. The right to freedom of expression cannot be invoked to disseminate ideas contrary to the text and spirit of the Convention.

2. While limiting the exercise of freedom of expression, the criminalization of the denial of genocide does not infringe the Convention. In such circumstances, interference with the right to freedom of expression can be considered necessary in a democratic society. 

(In the instant case, the applicant, a bishop and former member of the Society of Saint Pius X, denied and downplayed the Holocaust on Swedish TV. His statements were subsequently reported in the German press. As a result, the applicant was convicted of incitement to hatred by the German courts. In his application to the ECtHR, the applicant complained about his conviction and he argued in particular that German law did not apply to his statements as the offence had not been committed in Germany, but in Sweden. The Court declared the application inadmissible as manifestly ill-founded).