WRITTEN QUESTION No. 9/96 by Angela SIERRA GONZÁLEZ to the Council. Extradition from Spain to Austria of the neo-Nazi Gerd Honsik
Date: 1996-01-25
Institutions: European Parliament, SIERRA GONZALEZ
Subjects: Austria, National Socialism, Spain, agreement (EU), crime, extradition, human rights, penalty, racism, terrorism













EUR-Lex - 91996E0009 - EN






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91996E0009

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 9/96 by Angela SIERRA GONZÁLEZ to the Council. Extradition from Spain to Austria of the neo-Nazi Gerd Honsik  


Official Journal C 217 , 26/07/1996 P. 0005 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-0009/96 by Angela Sierra González (GUE/NGL) to the Council (25 January 1996)Subject: Extradition from Spain to Austria of the neo-Nazi Gerd HonsikOn 3 November 1995 the Spanish High Court rejected the request for extradition submitted by Austria in respect of the neo-Nazi Gerd Honsik, who has been a fugitive from Austrian justice since May 1992 when he was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment for 'reviving National-Socialist ideology' and for spreading the so-called 'Auschwitz lie', which denies the existence of gas chambers during the Third Reich.The highest judicial body in Spain justified its refusal to extradite Gerd Honsik on grounds that 'expressing support for National Socialism and genocide has only been a crime since May 1995, whereas the alleged offences took place between 1986 and 1989'.Since he settled in Barcelona under the protection of the extreme right-wing organization Cedade, Gerd Honsik has published the magazine Halt, Nazi propaganda and racist tracts which he regularly dispatches in large quantities to Germany and Austria.1. What does the Council think of a situation in which persons found guilty of racist crimes in one country of the European Union are able to seek refuge in another?2. What action is the Council taking to secure an extradition agreement amongst all fifteen Member States with a view to combating racism, terrorism and organized crime within the European Union?Reply (3 June 1996)1. The Council considers that it is desirable for all the Member States to collaborate in preventing the perpetrators of racist and xenophobic offences from taking advantage of the differences between various criminal legislations.In this connection, the Council has reached political agreement on joint action to combat racis, and xenophobia whereby every Member State undertakes to ensure effective judicial cooperation regarding offences involving specific behaviour regarded as racist or xenophobic.The Member States would accordingly have to undertake, if necessary, either to take steps to ensure that such behaviour is subject to penal sanctions or, in the absence of the necessary measures and pending their adoption, to derogate from the principle of double criminality for such behaviour.2. The Council has moreover already drawn up an initial Convention on simplified extradition procedure between the Member States, signed on 10 March 1995. It applies when the person sought for the purpose of extradition gives his consent in accordance with the rules laid down in the Convention and if full compliance with the principles of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.