From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Austrian politician fined for calling presidential candidate a ‘Nazi’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAn Austrian appeals court has found a politician guilty of defaming right-wing presidential candidate Norbert Hofer by suggesting he is a Nazi and fined him thousands of euros.
Hofer took Social Democrat Ingo Mayr to court after Hofer won about a third of the vote in the first round of elections in April. Among other things, Mayr had said that a third of the electorate “chose a Nazi.”
Wednesday’s verdict overturns an earlier court ruling in favor of Mayr and carries fines totaling 5,550 euros ($6,100),
Hofer narrowly lost to left-leaning candidate Alexander Van der Bellen in a May runoff that Austria’s highest court annulled after Hofer’s Freedom Party objected that the vote was marred by major irregularities. The two face off again December 4.
— AP
The Times of Israel Community.