Notorious antisemite Alison Chabloz sent back to prison after humiliatingly losing her own appeal in case launched following action by CAA

Notorious antisemite Alison Chabloz has humiliatingly been sent back to prison on remand, pending sentencing on Monday, after losing her own appeal.

The appeal was against her conviction under section 127 of the Communications Act for sending by a public communications network an offensive, indecent message or material. That conviction was secured following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, which had been pursuing justice against Ms Chabloz for over four years.

In a two-day hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday and Friday, Ms Chabloz, 57, sought to have her conviction overturned, having already served nine weeks in prison, representing half of her original eighteen week sentence. Defendants convicted in magistrates’ court are usually given leave to appeal their cases to a crown court, but with the risk that, if their appeal is dismissed, there is a possibility that their sentence may be increased. This looks likely to happen on Monday, after Ms Chabloz’s appeal was dismissed on Friday and she was held on remand, pending sentencing on Monday.

Judge Martin Beddoe said that he made his judgment in accordance with “standards of an open and multiracial society,” and that “the prosecution is proportionate in response to a pressing social need.” He also stated that there are consequences for being found guilty of being grossly offensive, as Ms Chabloz has been.

In his remarks, Judge Beddoe highlighted Ms Chabloz’s “hostility to people of Jewish extraction” and her “irrational” views and “misguided beliefs.” He said that he was quite sure that her grossly offensive statements were “deliberately said.”

Over the course of the hearing, Ms Chabloz said that she was upset that “an English court is applying the dictatorship of opinion imposed by Zionist organisations”, on several occasions also mentioning Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Director of Investigations and Enforcement by name.

Ms Chabloz, whose conviction arose on the basis of a previous landmark precedent secured against her by Campaign Against Antisemitism over her obsessive Holocaust denial used to hound Jews, also told the court this week that Jewish people turn their children into “psychopathic maniacs” by teaching them about the Holocaust, which she described as “frantic babble”.

She added that “English Zionists work together in their own group interests” and at one point declared that she would like English people to “remain the majority in my country.” Judge Beddoe asked her “Who is English? How do you distinguish?” She answered: “By identity and ethnicity.” The judge pressed her, “Are Jewish people in your view English?” to which she responded: “They may be half-English or a quarter English.”.

In her defence, Ms Chabloz claimed that she has Jewish collaborators in her work, has taught Jewish songs to children and that she received support from Jewish people while she was in prison. Scarce evidence was provided to support most of these contentions.

Her testimony was rambling, with the judge castigating her for failing to answer questions and even her own counsel urging her at times to focus. Despite this, she continued to insist that “the Holocaust narrative” is fraudulent, referring to “all the fake survivors who survived” and accusing the Auschwitz Museum of being “a fraudulent enterprise.”

She also repeated her claim that “the Holocaust is a state religion here and in the West,” and accused Jews of being “the main group behind clamping down on freedom of expression.”

Some of the offences of which Ms Chabloz was convicted arose from comments that she made on Graham Hart’s internet radio show. Since her earlier conviction and incarceration, Mr Hart pleaded guilty to eight charges under the Public Order Act 1986 after investigations by Campaign Against Antisemitism, and was sentenced to thirty-two months in prison, of which he will serve half.

Ms Chabloz is a virulent antisemite and Holocaust denier who has an extensive record of using social media to publicise her hatred for Jews and to convert others to her views about Jewish people. Following a private prosecution by Campaign Against Antisemitism, which was later continued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Ms Chabloz became the first person in Britain to be convicted over Holocaust denial in a precedent-setting case. Ms Chabloz previously spent a short time in custody for breaching the conditions of her sentence, but this will be her first substantial period in prison.

Ms Chabloz is fixated on the idea that the Holocaust did not occur, and that it was fabricated by Jews and their supporters as a vehicle for fraudulently extorting money in the form of reparations. This forms the basis for her second obsession, that Jews are liars and thieves who are working to undermine Western society. Ms Chabloz is also connected to extremist right-wing movements, at whose meetings she gives speeches and performs her songs, in the UK, France and North America. 

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Alison Chabloz’s repulsive opinions about Jews can be traced back to the beer halls of 1930s Germany. The dismissal of her appeal affirms the just decision of the magistrates’ court and its decision to incarcerate her, signaling that the judiciary is united in its disgust of people who make a vocation out of denying the Holocaust and baiting Jews. The likely enhancement of her sentence, which is entirely of her own making, is nothing less than she deserves.

“This decision comes on the heels of the imprisonment of Graham Hart, on whose radio show Ms Chabloz made some of the comments that lead to her conviction. We will continue to ensure not only that individual antisemites are brought to justice, but that their networks of indoctrination are disrupted as well.”

In separate proceedings also resulting from action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Ms Chabloz is due back in court on 1st September to be tried for further alleged offences under the Communications Act (the original charges have been downgraded to this lesser offence). 

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.