The dead aren't listening

BERLIN — Seven suspected neo-Nazis went on trial Monday charged with incitement and disturbing the peace of the dead for allegedly burning a copy of Anne Frank's diary during a celebration last year.

The men, aged from 24 to 29, are accused of holding a ceremony on June 24 during which they praised the Nazis and denied the Holocaust.

The indictment accuses Lars Konrad, 25, of throwing the book into the fire in front of numerous spectators and the other six men standing nearby. The seven men are also accused of using neo-Nazi and Nazi language to ridicule Anne Frank and all the victims of Nazi concentration camps.

Now I have no love for Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis, in fact you could throw them into the bonfire and I'd break out the wieners and marshmallows, but "disturbing the peace of the dead" as a crime?