Austrian court holds British historian

[Against-the-law-to-disagree-with-state dept.--JAS]

World Digest
Originally published November 26, 2005


Austrian court holds British historian
VIENNA, Austria // An Austrian court ruled yesterday that British historian David Irving must remain in custody on Holocaust denial charges despite his assertion that he now acknowledges the existence of Nazi-era gas chambers. The court said it considered Irving a flight risk. Denying the Nazis' systematic slaughter of 6 million Jews is a crime in Austria punishable by up to 10 years in prison. On Thursday, Irving's lawyer said the controversial right-wing scholar now acknowledges that Nazi gas chambers existed and admits that some of his past statements could be interpreted as denying people were gassed. In the past, Irving has claimed that Adolf Hitler knew nothing about the Holocaust, and he has been quoted as saying there was "not one shred of evidence" the Nazis carried out their "Final Solution."