James Sears Image by Colin Perkel, Twitter

MONTREAL (JTA) — A Canadian editor was handed one-year prison sentence for promoting hatred against Jews and women in his publication.

James Sears, editor of the quarterly Your Ward News in Toronto, was sentenced Thursday to two six-month terms by Judge Richard Blouin of the Ontario Court of Justice.

The publication promoted Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic blood libel claims and published columns justifying rape. It also contained racist, Islamophobic and homophobic messages.

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In 2016, the minister in charge of Canada’s postal service banned Your Ward News from being distributed by mail.

Noah Shack, vice president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, hailed the conviction as a “moment of justice for the thousands of women and Jewish community members…who have been impacted by the toxic hate-mongering of Your Ward News.”

B’nai Brith Canada also praised Sears’ conviction. CEO Michal Mostyn said it sent a “clear message — that repeated and remorseless attempts to spread hate in Canadian society will not be tolerated.”

The publication’s publisher, LeRoy St. Germaine, is to be sentenced Aug. 29, The Canadian Jewish News reported.

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