The Alberta provincial government is seeking a stiffer sentence against a convicted hatemonger, Jim Keegstra, whose malice is directed toward Jews.
The former schoolteacher and mayor of the small Alberta town of Eckville was fined $3,000 last month for wilfully promoting hatred against an identifiable group.
The government’s appeal says that the fine imposed by the trial judge is not enough to deter others or Keegstra from violating the law.
This was Keegstra’s second conviction on the same charges. In 1985 he was convicted, only to have the decision overturned on a technicality.
This time Keegstra acted as his own lawyer and lost.
During the trial, Keegstra fought back tears as he claimed that his honor was attacked and that he was discredited by the Crown prosecutors.
The provincial government’s appeal will not be heard until after Keegstra’s appeal is dealt with. The former teacher wants the case thrown out because he believes that he was charged under an unconstitutional clause of the Criminal Code, which he claims limits freedom of speech.
However, the Canadian Supreme Court has already ruled that the law under which he was charged is constitutional.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
