David Ahenakew, former head of the Assembly of First Nations, had his hate crime conviction overturned Thursday by a Saskatchewan judge.

Chief Justice Robert Laing ruled that Ahenakew did not have the necessary intent needed for a conviction, and ordered a new trial.

Ahenakew was convicted of promoting hatred and fined $1,000, after he called Jews a "disease" during a conversation with a Saskatoon StarPhoenix reporter in December 2002.

Because of that conviction, former governor general Adrienne Clarkson revoked Ahenakew's Order of Canada membership, granted in 1978 for his work on native issues.

"We understand that revocation will stand regardless of (Friday's) decision," CTV's Jill Macyshon told Newsnet from Winnipeg.

Doug Christie, Ahenakew's lawyer, argued his client's comments were spontaneous and isolated, despite the fact he was speaking to a journalist.

He said that the section of the Criminal Code under which Ahenakew was convicted applies only to hate spoken "other than in private conversation," and that the taped one-on-one interview with the reporter meets that exception.

Ahenakew testified that he felt confronted and didn't see the tape recorder the reporter was using.

"If you don't know that it's being taped and you think you're in an argument with someone who is interrupting you and contradicting you and basically being confrontational, there's quite often the possibility that a person loses sight of the fact that this could be broadcast," Christie said Friday morning, appearing on CTV's Canada AM.

"In those circumstances, the issue becomes one of whether you're intending to promote hatred and that's a required element of the criminal offence, you see. Maybe it's bad speech, maybe it's irresponsible, but it's another question as to whether it's a crime," he said.

But the reporter, James Parker, had testified he held the tape recorder right in front of Ahenakew's face.

The Canadian Jewish Congress had argued that Christie's position threatened the integrity of Canada's hate laws.

"The anti-hate laws are extremely important for minority communities that are targeted and vulnerable, and Canada would not remain a multicultural democracy for very long if segments of its society could be attacked and vilified with impunity," executive vice-president Manuel Prutschi said in April.

"To be called a disease is obscene and of course when something is a disease you are supposed to cure the body ... from that disease."

Before Ahenakew spoke to the reporter, he delivered a speech at a Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations conference, in which he accused Jews of starting the Second World War.

"The Jews damn near owned all of Germany prior to the war. That's how Hitler came in. He was going to make damn sure that the Jews didn't take over Germany or Europe," Ahenakew said on the tape.

"That's why he fried six million of those guys, you know. Jews would have owned the God-damned world. And look what they're doing. They're killing people in Arab countries."

With files from The Canadian Press