Sentence First — Verdict Afterwards

Friday, February 18, 2011 (Mirror)

Sentence First — Verdict Afterwards

The Red Queen and Alice

‘Let the jury consider their verdict,’ the King said, for about the twentieth time that day.

‘No, no!’ said the Queen. ‘Sentence first – verdict afterwards.’

‘Stuff and nonsense!’ said Alice loudly. ‘The idea of having the sentence first!’

‘Hold your tongue!’ said the Queen, turning purple.

‘I won’t!’ said Alice.

‘Off with her head!’ the Queen shouted at the top of her voice. Nobody moved.

‘Who cares for you?’ said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this time.) ‘You’re nothing but a pack of cards!’

At this the whole pack rose up into the air, and came flying down upon her: she gave a little scream, half of fright and half of anger, and tried to beat them off, and found herself lying on the bank, with her head in the lap of her sister, who was gently brushing away some dead leaves that had fluttered down from the trees upon her face.

‘Wake up, Alice dear!’ said her sister; ‘Why, what a long sleep you’ve had!’

From Chapter 12 of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll

Unlike Alice, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff does not have the luxury of waking up from the surreal judicial drama into whose rabbit hole she so recently fell.

Like the Queen and the King of Wonderland, the prosecution and the judge in Elisabeth’s case apparently settled on the sentence long before considering a verdict. Elisabeth’s trial was as nonsensical as that of the Knave. Like Alice, hers was the only voice of sanity in a courtroom full of madmen.

But the rabbit hole goes even deeper than that. The judge in the case, Bettina Neubauer, convicted Elisabeth for saying that Mohammed was a pedophile. There’s only one problem: Elisabeth never said any such thing. As the transcript of her seminar demonstrates, Elisabeth in fact said that “Mohammed had a thing for little kids”, the plain facts of which even the judge was forced to accept.

ESW seminar transcript
In other words, the judge in Elisabeth’s trial, acting on her own initiative, put words into Elisabeth’s mouth and then convicted her for saying them.

If only The Hon. Neubauer were the Red Queen in a pack of cards!

If only we could all wake up from this feverish nightmare!

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
Elisabeth did, however, use the word “pedophilia” in her seminar, but only to describe what Susanne Winter had done to earn her own “hate speech” conviction. Elisabeth sent us a note this morning explaining all of this:

In my seminar I described a conversation with my sister.

It was January 2007, I think, and my sister called me about the scandal Susanne Winter had caused by saying what she said. I told her that it was public knowledge that Mohammed had married a six-year-old and consummated the marriage when she was nine. I then said that if this isn’t pedophilia, then what is?

She said, no, you can’t say it that way, you have to word it differently, more diplomatically.

I said, well tell me how. She was silent — she didn’t know.

What’s important here is that I was recounting a story that happened before Winter had been convicted, and it was the only time on record that I actually used the word.

In all other instances I circumvented the word by saying “Mohammed had a thing for little kids”, knowing that Winter had been convicted for saying what she said.

And still, judge Bettina Neubauer called me a “repeat offender” and fined me heavily.

Here are the exact words I was found guilty for [see also the German transcript above]:

7. One of the biggest problems we are facing today is that Mohammed is seen as the ideal man, the perfect human being, the perfect Muslim. It is imperative for a devout Muslim to copy Mohammed. This is not according to today’s standards or our way of life or laws. This is because he was a warlord, had had plenty of women, to put it this way, and he had a things for children. And according to our standards he was not a perfect human. As a result we are faced with huge problems, because Muslims are in conflict with democracy and our value system.

[… ] and when we speak about the Al-Bukhari collection of hadith you can be certain that this is recognized by all [Sunni] Muslims. And it is in Al-Bukhari where we can find the information about Aisha and sex with children.

8. I remember talking with my sister — and I have recounted this story a few times already — about Susanne Winter’s infamous talk. My sister called me on the phone, saying, “Oh my God, did you tell her that?” “No, it wasn’t me, but you can find it in the books, it’s not a secret.” She: “But you can’t say it that way.” Me: “A 56-year-old and a six-year-old? What do you call that? Give me an example. What do you call it if not pedophilia?” She: “Well, you have to use a circumlocution, be more diplomatic.” My sister is symptomatic. We have heard this so often: “Those were different times.” I say, No, [this behavior] wasn’t OK back then and it is not OK today. Period. And this (old men marrying young girls) is still happening today. This is never to be condoned.

Readers should not go by the fine of €480. What’s crucial here is the fact that I was fined 120 “day rates” of €4, because I am a housewife with no income. If I had income, the actual fine would have been much higher. It’s the “day rates” that make the fine a hefty one.

Susanne Winter was fined €24,000 euros, because she makes 10,000 euros a month.

The letter sent to Elisabeth by her lawyer is also apposite to this discussion. Many thanks to JLH for the translation:

Gheneff-Rami-Sommer
Attorneys at Law

To: Mrs. Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff

February 15, 2011

Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff Trial
112 HV 144/10g, Regional Criminal Court Vienna

Dear Mrs. Sabaditsch-Wolff,

As you know, the main trial in the above-named case took place on February 15, 2011.

After your supplemental interrogation, the requests for evidential interrogation of witnesses Wafa Sultan, Hans Jansen and Robert Spencer — previously not dealt with by the court — were rejected, because the court of first instance perceived their statements to be valuations (“subjective assertions”), to the content of which the requested witnesses could contribute nothing. The request to question Ilse Albrecht was refused because she would only have been able to testify subjectively whether she was upset or angry at your comments on Mohammed.

In conclusion the welcome verdict was announced: You were exonerated of the charge of incitement according to § 283 StGB. The court found your statements on Islam permissible in the sense of Art 10 MRK, since according to this regulation criticism must be made in a provocative manner. Our arguments were agreed to in their entirety.

You were found, however, to have committed the offense of § 188 StGB (denigration of a religion) because of your statements in the seminars of October 15, 2009 and November 12, 2009 about Mohammed and his sexual intercourse with nine year-old Aisha. The judge’s basis for that focused on the circumstance that the offense of § 188 StGB is an abstract criminal threat, and therefore the mere aptness to cause offense was sufficient to qualify as the crime. What was incomprehensible was the judge’s conclusion that Mohammed’s sexual contact with nine-year-old Aisha was not pedophilia, because Mohammed continued his marriage to Aisha until his death.

Punishment was set at 120 per diem payments of €4, in total €480 or an alternative sentence of 60 days imprisonment.

Further, the costs of the trial must be paid.

The verdict does not have the force of law. since we as well as the prosecutor have announced the intention to appeal by reason of invalidity and because of the remarks about culpability and sentencing.

We have four weeks after receipt of the copy of the verdict to execute the appeal.

With warm greetings, I remain

Dr. Michael Rami

Take a deep breath, everyone, and think about the implications of the above material.

Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff was convicted for stating the plain facts: the prophet Mohammed had sex with a nine-year-old-girl. She never used the word pedophilia; she simply described in everyday language the prophet’s… ahem… tastes.

The statements she made are not considered false by observant Muslims. They are written down in Islamic scripture, and are considered correct and authoritative by virtually every Islamic scholar and theologian.

These scriptural passages are not considered offensive to Muslims when they are recited in a mosque or a madrassa. Mohammed was the perfect man, so by definition his actions cannot be offensive. They are in fact exemplary. That is why Muslim men continue to marry little girls to this day.

Elisabeth’s statements are offensive because they were made by a non-Muslim in public, and brought discredit upon Islam in the eyes of other non-believers.

This offense is referred to as “Islamic slander”, and is a grave violation of Islamic law. Under sharia, the penalty is death.

But it is only illegal under sharia.

Monday’s verdict had nothing to do with Austrian law, or European law. It was based solely on the unwritten laws of politically correct Multiculturalism, which absolutely forbids the offending of Muslims.

This entire judicial farce was necessary in order to establish a sharia-based precedent in Austria. Whether Bettina Neubauer realizes it or not, her role in the case was to enforce Islamic law in the country formerly known as Austria.

Welcome to the Caliphate.


Previous posts about the hate speech case against Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff:

2009 Dec 5 Fighting a Hate Speech Charge in Austria
11 Heckling the Counterjihad
14 Whose Law?
17 Defaming the Muslims of Pinkafeld
2010 Mar 11 A Mother and an Activist
20 An Austrian “Hate School”
22 Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff at the Freedom Defense Initiative
29 Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff and the Wiener Akademikerbund
Sep 9 “Islam is a Political Ideology Disguised as a Religion”
16 “Justice Must Not Be Made the Handmaiden of Sharia”
17 The Truth Does Not Matter
Oct 11 Interview With Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff
16 Is the Truth Illegal in Austria?
20 A Court Date for Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff
21 BPE Press Release on Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff
22 Elisabeth’s Voice: An Appeal
23 Elisabeth’s Voice: A Follow-Up
24 Raising Our Voices
25 Elisabeth’s Voice is Growing
27 Elisabeth’s Voice: More Information
27 A Bit More Media Attention?
28 We Are Elisabeth’s Voice
30 Elisabeth’s Voice in Amsterdam
31 Mark Steyn Joins Elisabeth’s Voice
Nov 2 Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff: Target of Western Shariah
6 Anatomy of a Discussion with a Leftist Journalist
8 ESW in the WSJ
10 “The Left is Very Much the New Far Right”
11 Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff Versus the State of Denial
17 Elisabeth’s Voice: An Update
15 The New English Review Interviews Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff
20 Live-Blogging the Trial of Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff
20 The ESW Defense File
23 The Trial of Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, Day 1
27 The Time That is Given Us
28 ESW at Trykkefrihedsselskabet
Dec 5 An Oasis of Civilization in a Desert of Barbarism
22 An Unusual Hobby
23 In Demand Everywhere
2011 Jan 14 ESW: Thoughts Before a Trial
14 Live-Blogging the Trial of Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, Part Two
16 ESW: A Submission to the Court in Vienna
18 The Trial of Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, Day 2
21 Elisabeth’s Voice, Phase Two
28 Geert Wilders Supports Elisabeth’s Voice
Feb 5 Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff in Luton
10 A Dangerous Mindset
13 An Appeal to Rectify an Oversight
14 ESW: Submission III to the Court in Vienna
15 ESW: The RT Interview
15 The Trial of Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, Day 3
16 Time to Say Thank You
18 Convicted for Calling Muhammad a “Paedophile”

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

6 Replies to “Sentence First — Verdict Afterwards”

  1. Judge Neubauer intentionally committed a crime. Those who respect the law in Austria have a duty to seek to have judge Neubauer removed from the bench, disbarred (if that applies) and prosecuted for slander.

    Perhaps that’s why the prosecutor kept his mouth shut. Perhaps he knew his career would be in jeapordy.

  2. Franz Kafka was spot-on when he wrote about the excesses of a bureaucratic justice system.

    When the judges are allowed to pass verdicts on the accused (not that Elizabeth committed any crimes, its just that the courts thought she did), put words into the mouths of the accused and then get away with it, then you no longer have justice at all. You have tyranny.

    I believe that the novel The Trial was an example of this sort of thing, but slightly modified from this farce.

    If the consequences to justice and free speech weren’t so dire, I would have laughed.

    Now, I am angry and disappointed.

  3. RRWest remember it wasn’t that long ago (historically speaking) when Austria and Germany were ruled by a dictator, one that was voted into power, and that the Code Napoleon which is the legal code that most European nations use requires the defendant to prove they are not guilty rather then the prosecutor proving they are.