Italy approves bill criminalizing Holocaust denial and statements that deny genocide

Italy approves bill criminalizing Holocaust denial and statements that deny genocide –

Italy’s Parliament approved a bill making spreading Holocaust denial illegal.

The bill, which adds to an existing anti-racism bill, was approved Wednesday evening by the lower assembly of the Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, by a vote of 237-5, with 102 abstentions.

The new law would go after those who deny genocide or crimes against humanity, using the definition by the International Court of Justice, the German news agency DPA reported. Those convicted could face prison terms of two to six years.

The measure punishes ideas “based entirely or partly” on negationist ideology only when “there is a real danger of their dissemination,” according to DPA.