What was the Zündel Case?

The Zündel case (Citron et al v. Zündel) was referred by the Commission to the Tribunal in 1997. It was the first case ever considered by the Commission dealing with hate on the Internet (for a summary of the case, see the Commission’s 2001 Legal Report).

The complaint before the Tribunal involved material posted on a website (Zundelsite) and accessible on the World Wide Web that denounced in vitriolic terms the alleged fraud of the Holocaust, Jewish/Zionist/Marxist racketeers who allegedly mounted a "Holocaust extortion" scheme, the supposed Judaization and attendant mental and spiritual circumcision of Western civilization, a long list of supposed lies by the Jewish Lobby, and various con games, cheating and infamous acts said to have been committed by the Jews.

Over 50 days of hearings were held. In addition, dozens of procedural motions and judicial reviews were argued over the four-year period ending with the Tribunal’s decision in January 2002. The Commission participated fully in all these proceedings.

One of the key issues in contention at the Tribunal was whether section 13 "telephonic" messages included postings on the Internet. The Commission argued that they did. Ironically, the final decision of the Tribunal which confirmed that section 13 included the Internet was issued only days after Parliament approved the Anti-terrorism Act, which added sub-section 13(2) to the CHRA specifying that section 13 covers postings on the Internet.

In light of its findings, the Tribunal issued an order against Ernst Zündel and any other individuals acting in his name to cease the discriminatory practices related to the Zundelsite that were reflected in the material placed before the Tribunal, or reflected in any other material of a substantially similar form or content.