Bruno Gollnisch - fined for questioning of gas chambers
Photo: AP
Le Pen's deputy convicted of questioning Holocaust
French court convicts and fines far-right leader for questioning existence of gas chambers in death camps
A French court convicted a far-right leader and member of the European Parliament on Thursday and fined him for questioning the existence of Nazi gas chambers.
The court convicted Bruno Gollnisch, the No. 2 in France's National Front party led by Jean-Marie LePen , of "Disputing a crime against humanity," Gave him a three-month suspended sentence and ordered him to pay a USD 6,450 fine, court officials said. Prosecutors had asked for a fine double
that amount.
The court also ordered him to pay USD 71,200 in damages to the plaintiffs, which included the group SOS Racism, and ordered all the newspapers that ran Gollnisch's comments to publish the verdict.
At an October 2004 news conference, Gollnisch questioned whether the Nazis used gas chambers in the Holocaust and suggested that the number of Jews killed during World War II might have been exaggerated. Gollnisch's comments sparked uproar among Jewish and anti-racism groups, and he was suspended by Jean Moulin University in Lyon, where he taught law and Japanese, for five years over the remarks.
The European Parliament stripped Gollnisch of his legislative immunity from prosecution. Gollnisch has said he is a victim of a "witch hunt" in the case.
In a statement Thursday, he called the verdict "repressive" and vowed to appeal.
Also Thursday, President Jacques Chirac will honor French people who rescued Jews from the Nazis, in a ceremony in Paris.
Gollnisch assumed the leadership Monday of a new political grouping in the European Parliament that brings together some of Europe's most prominent far-right politicians. He declined to answer questions earlier this week about how a conviction in the Lyon court would affect his leadership of the Identity, Sovereignty and Tradition group.
