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February 11, 2003
I am sorry I could not get anything out to my readers
yesterday and only now at least some partial information. I am walking
around the house with three telephones hanging from my belt! The calls are
simply non-stop!
I am encountering resistance at every government level. I
was trying to find out who gave the order for Ernst's arrest and have not
been able to get a reply. I am working on it, and just as soon as I have
contact numbers, I'll send them to you to put some heat where it belongs.
Meanwhile, please familiarize yourself with both the content
and the sequence of what happened - so that, when I send you names and
addresses to contact, you can respond in an informed and responsible way.
We are working on several strategies. I was told this
morning by a very nasty person in the Memphis INS office that Ernst will be
deported just as soon as they can manage.
Therefore, publicity about this case NOW is CRUCIAL!
You'll say: But where? Start on your own. Call your own
representative. Ask what happened to freedom of speech. Call the ACLU.
Ask why the borders, both north and south, remain porous
letting in millions of undocumented foreigners, while someone like Ernst
Zündel, living quietly and peacefully, gets harassed. Be creative. And just
as soon as I find out, I will send you contact names and numbers.
For a start, try links and emails on the First Amendment
Cyber Tribune.
http://w3.trib.com/FACT/
The most urgent questions to be asked are:
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Who ordered this arrest? Who signed the deportation
order?
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Is it customary to arrest a person on an alleged minor
immigration violation by five (!) agents?
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What are the procedures to prevent deportation to
Germany where Ernst would be convicted and imprisoned? What are the
steps? Who should we contact?
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What happened to the First Amendment guarantee? Are
people in America still free to speak their conscience?
Some things are clearer now then they were even one or two
days before. Here is update the information you must know:
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Background Information on the arrest of my husband, Ernst
Zundel
From: Ingrid Rimland Zundel
February 11, 2003
Ernst Zundel is a globally known activist speaking on behalf
of the maligned and vilified World War II German generation, insisting on
fairness and historical truth. His enemies like to call him names - a mild
one being "Holocaust denier."
Ernst has battled the Holocaust Lobby for decades and is the
man responsible for the "Leuchter Report" - a scientific report
based on a forensic investigation of Auschwitz that puts an end to the claim
that "...the Germans gassed six million Jews."
Ernst has very powerful and nasty enemies. He has survived
three documented assassination attempts - a paid-for arson (1995) and two
parcel bombs (1984 and 1995). He is a lifelong pacifist who scrupulously
obeys the law.
Ernst is a German national who lived in Canada for 42 years.
He applied for citizenship twice, and was twice denied. He was not given any
reason. This means that he is still a German citizen.
In Germany, "Holocaust Denial" is against the law.
You can get up to five years in prison for "... defaming the memory of
the dead." Many people are in prison for "holocaust denial"
and thousands have been prosecuted. This is a vicious law in Germany that
prevents people from presenting the facts or even speaking of facts as they
know them and have checked them out.
I know that this latest arrest is meant to deport Ernst to
Germany on a technicality where he will be charged, sentenced and imprisoned
without being allowed a defense - even witnesses and attorneys are charged
and punished for aiding a defendant charged with "Holocaust
denial".
Once Ernst is convicted and imprisoned, somebody will make
sure the key is thrown away.
I fear that even worse could happen and that his very life
will be in jeopardy.
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I am a naturalized US citizen of German background. I met
Ernst in 1994 and we married in January of 2000. We purchased a home in
Tennessee and have lived here quietly since the summer of 2000, trying to
build a new life for ourselves.
After we married, we applied for permanent resident status
for Ernst. From the beginning, we engaged a reputable, knowledgeable
immigration attorney who carefully followed procedures. Given my husband's
high profile, it was and is in our interest to cooperate in any way we can.
We have lived at the same address for more than two years.
We are listed in the telephone book. My husband has an American Social
Security Number, a Tennessee driver's licence, and a work permit. He has
been vaccinated and fingerprinted, as requested by INS.
We were told that the next step would be a personal hearing
before an immigration judge, but that this could take as long as 36 months.
In May of 2001, we received a request for an immigration
hearing. Our attorney could not make it, and he requested a re-scheduling. A
copy of this request exists. It is dated May 23, 2001.
Our attorney wrote to INS:
"I am in receipt of your appointment letter for the
interview concerning the application for Adjustment of Status of Mr.
Zundel. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this service and am
requesting that it be rescheduled...my schedule conflict(s) and I am
respectfully requesting rescheduling of this appointment."
There was no reply from INS.
Our attorney wrote again on May 6, 2002, one year later,
this time sending the letter certified. I have a copy of this letter and a
copy the return receipt; the original is kept at our attorney's office.
This time, our lawyer wrote:
"Please be so kind as to reschedule the interview
that was cancelled last year on June 12, 2001. It has been quite some time
and surely this matter can be advanced for personal interview."
Again, there was no reply from INS.
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My husband and I were not overly concerned, since we had
been told that procedures could take as long as 36 months. We simply awaited
instructions.
Last Wednesday, 5 INS agents showed up and bullied Ernst to
sign a document that stated he agreed to be deported. I only found out later
what kind of document it was. It was a deportation order, "...signed
and sealed and unappealable."
Ernst asked what would happen if he did not sign this
document.
He was told: "Then we'll arrest you."
"And if I sign the document?"
The answer was: "Either way. We are here to arrest
you."
I stood next to him. I don't know if he signed this paper or
if he just noted that he was under duress and protested the manner in which
this violation of his rights as a man married for three years to a US
citizen was handled.
The agents asked him to empty his pockets and lean against a
truck to be frisked, as though he were a common criminal. Next they put
handcuffs on him and took him away.
Media reports now tell me that he was arrested because he
"overstayed his visa."
I was not given any copies of any documents or justification
for this arrest. No one from either the INS or the local sheriff's office
has called me as of 9:00 a.m. this morning, Feb. 11, and told me what will
happen next. I feel that what happened to my husband was akin to a
kidnapping with the assistance of the law.
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With much difficulty and many runarounds I finally found out
that Ernst is being held in the detention facility in Blount county, a jail
that is located about an hour from where I live. Ernst has since been able
to call me once a day. No one has contacted him or told him what would
happen next, not even his attorney. I must assume that roadblocks are being
put in his way.
I was allowed to see Ernst once, last Saturday, after
unbelievable obstacles and many unnecessary bureaucratic hassles. I believe
that my husband is being given the "Diesel Treatment" within the
prison facility itself whereby he is moved from unit to unit so that his
visiting hours get cancelled, postponed or mixed up in administrative
procedures.
I don't know what will happen next. A spokesperson in the
Louisiana Regional INS office - I believe her name is spelled "Maow"
- told reporters that, "in layman's terms, that Ernst Zundel is out
of legal immigration status", that he might get a hearing before a
judge "if it is appropriate", and that "he could be
removed without going to a judge."
That is an ominous statement!
Because of my husband's high political profile and the
enormous power of the Holocaust Lobby in America, I fear that his enemies
plan to whisk him out of the country to Germany just as fast as they can.
If they succeed, a conviction for "Holocaust denial"
in Germany is a foregone conclusion.
What does that mean? Not only would he get 5 years in jail,
he would be prevented from returning to America for ten years because he
would have a "criminal" record for Holocaust denial!
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Thank you very much!
Ingrid Rimland
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