Holger Voss was charged with 'glorification of a criminal act' after seemingly praising the World Trade Centre terrorists in a posting he claimed was intended to be sarcastic and satirical.
The discussion was sparked by an article published last summer (2001) by the German online magazine Telepolis (http://www.heise.de/tp/english/default.html) about the killing of hundreds of Taleban prisoners in the presence of US and UK special forces in Qala-i-Jangi fort in Mazar i-Sharif, Afghanistan in 2001.
One reader, anonymously posting under the nickname 'Engine_of_Aggression' , was enraged by the article's suggestion that the Taleban prisoners had rights under the Geneva convention. He praised the actions of those responsible for their deaths: "Congratulations to the people who, in this over-critical time, dare to grab evil at its root and eradicate it from the face of the earth!"
Mr Voss claimed his response, in his own name, was intended to subvert Engine_of_Aggression's comments and to highlight their obnoxiousness. He wrote: "Yes, congratulations to the murderers of 9/11/01... Good, that on 9/11 a couple of real men (!) found the courage to show the evil ones, the USA, how it really is!"
Mr Voss said he concluded his posting by stating that his earlier comments were not intended to be taken seriously.
However, an anonymous complaint to the police led to public prosecutors in Munster, Germany, to charge Mr Voss with a form of incitement to crime.
Using post-September 11th anti-terrorist laws, the prosecutors forced his internet service provider and the host of the Telepolis website and discussion forum, Heise Online, to reveal all the information they held about Mr Voss and his web use.
But when the case went to court, the judge eventually decided that Mr Voss had not intentionally meant to approve the attacks on the US and threw out the case.
Index on Censorship web editor, Rohan Jayasekera, said: "It's good news, but the fact that the case was brought before a court in the first place represents a major threat to freedom of speech in Germany."
Ironically, Engine_of Aggression managed to escape being called to account by using an anonymous re-email software to disguise his identity.
Sources:
http://www.indexonline.org/news/20030107_germany.shtml
http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2636211.stm
http://www.news.bbc.oc.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2639755.stm
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