French Trial of Varg Vikernes Begins

Now that Tim Lambesis has been sentenced, we can all turn our attention to the legal woes of another total asshole: Varg Vikernes. The Burzum only-man’s trial in France for allegedly inciting racial hatred and exalting war crimes on the Internet began yesterday, AAP reports. Vikernes, of course, says he’s not guilty, and, tr00 ’til the end, is blaming the whole thing on posers, claiming that “I did not write the things that appear in the summons”:

“Vikernes told the court that according to Norwegian secret police there were ‘at any given moment 350 people pretending to be Varg Vikernes on Facebook,’ adding that ‘anybody can very easily put up a blog’ that appeared to be one of his.”

Obviously I’m a little biased, seeing as how Vikernes is a bigot who makes horrible music and all, but that seems like total bullshit — all the more so because Vikernes also asserts that “a possible misunderstanding could have arisen because he communicated through a Danish interpreter when he was briefly held in custody last year.” Vikernes lives in France… does he seriously not speak French?

Even if, for the sake of argument, we take Vikernes at his word that the language barrier was responsible for him admitting guilt to a crime he didn’t commit… can the French government seriously not identify the owner of a blog? Does that seem really weird to anyone else, or am I misunderestimating technology’s ability to fuck with IP addresses and stuff like that?

If convicted, “Vikernes could face a fine of €45,000 (roughly $61,000) and five years in jail,” according to Lambgoat. The verdict comes down July 8.