Historian Pleads Guilty in Holocaust Trial

Irving, 67, has been in custody since his November arrest on charges stemming from two speeches he gave in Austria in 1989 in which he was accused of denying the Nazis' extermination of 6 million Jews. He has contended that most of those who died at concentration camps such as Auschwitz succumbed to diseases such as typhus rather than execution.
A verdict was expected later Monday, with a conviction almost certain because of Irving's guilty plea. He faces up to 10 years in prison under the 1992 law, which applies to 'whoever denies, grossly plays down, approves or tries to excuse the National Socialist genocide or other National Socialist crimes against humanity in a print publication, in broadcast or other media.'

Associated Press

I don't really know what to make of this. I mean- I think the guy's an idiot who got caught being an idiot but at the same time- that law is a blatant abridgement of freedom of speech. However, it being a blatant abridgement, its existence flies in the face of those who are defending the publication of the blasphemous cartoons(which I haven't seen). I don't know. Does anyone have some insight for my troubled mind?