Speaking at a news conference after provincial court judge Marty Irwin pronounced sentence on July 8, Ahenakew said native Canadians had been victims of cultural genocide and worse oppression than Jews under the Nazis. He said Indians don't receive justice in Canadian courts.
"I hope my trial has revealed some of the frustration and pain of my people," said Ahenakew, the former chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). "If an Indian slips a little bit, [he is] crucified."
Ahenakew was convicted of promoting hatred against Jews as a result of statements he made to a reporter following a public address at a conference of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations in December 2002. He told the assembly that Jews had started World War II and he later told the reporter that Jews "damn near owned all of Germany" before the war. "That’s why [Hitler] fried six million of those guys. How do you get rid of a disease like that, that’s going to take over everything?"
In pronouncing sentence, Irwin said Ahenakew's comments "dehumanize the Jewish people. To suggest that any human being or group of human beings is a disease is to invite extremists to take action against them."
Striking a defiant tone at his news conference on Friday, Ahenakew said he would appeal the verdict.
3:24:38 PM 
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