The Argentine Federal Police announced on Wednesday that they have destroyed a printing press in San Isidro, a city in the greater Buenos Aires area, which produces and offers for sale publications with pro-Nazi and antisemitic content.
The Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the main organization for Argentina’s Jewish community, first undertook the case in 2021 when they spotted the books with Nazi propaganda offered for sale online. The books at issue contained Nazi symbols such as swastikas, iron crosses, reichsadler (Imperial Eagle), SS (Schutzstaffel) and totenkopf (skull), as well as pro-Nazi texts. The DAIA subsequently filed a complaint with Buenos Aires authorities and provided support to the two-year investigation.
The police conducted an on-site raid on Wednesday against “Librería Argentina,” the bookstore at issue, and confiscated more than 200 books with illegal contents as well as production tools. The police also arrested the owner of the bookstore, Pablo Giorgetti, who has been charged for violating the Anti-Discrimination Law of Argentina.
Article 3 of the Anti-Discrimination Law of Argentina provides that:
Those who participate in an organization or carry out propaganda based on ideas or theories of superiority of a race or a group of people of a certain religion, ethnic origin or color will be punished with imprisonment from one month to three years. that have as their objective the justification or promotion of racial or religious discrimination in any form.
The same penalty will be incurred by those who, by any means, encourage or incite persecution or hatred against a person or groups of people because of their race, religion, nationality or political ideas.
Police Commissioner General Carlos Alejandro Namandu explained that cutting off the distribution channel was only the first step of the investigation. Moving forward, “the law penalizes not only those who manufacture, but also those who buy,” implying police will now turn their attention upon consumers of pro-Nazi and antisemitic content.
