Freda, you are probably right to say we should take Irving's recantation with a pinch of salt (wonderful though it is, for me, to see him reduced to making it). I don't think it's such a good idea to get worked up about the fact that he is still trying to sell his books. That would never be reason enough for me to want to see someone imprisoned. How could I then excoriate the catholic church for its book-burning history?

Wolfgang, it is disingenuous to suggest that Austria has no options. For a start, Austria's record in dealing with war criminals is worse than any country's, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. In other words they have discretion about whether to make arrests, prosecute etc. In the cases of at least 40 people accused of Nazi war crimes (ie not just accused of saying the wrong things) they have chosen to take no action.

I cannot put a date on it, but Austria has been free for many years to make and amend its own laws. The one in question here was, in fact, amended some time in the 1990s. I don't know what the effect was of that amendment, but it would have had nothing to do with Soviet concerns.

Richard, as far as I have ever seen, it is sufficient to deny the Holocaust. Whether this is done in good faith does not seem to be a factor. There are similar but less extensive and less draconian laws in France, Germany, Poland Israel, etc.