Gas chamber questioner fined
2007-01-19 07:54
Lyon - A court in Lyon 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 - of "disputing a crime against humanity", gave
him a three-month suspended sentence and ordered him to pay a
€5 000 fine, court officials said.
Prosecutors had asked for a fine double that amount.
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.
The conviction came the same day President Jacques Chirac was to
honour French people who rescued Jews from the Nazis.
- AP