Spanish police arrest writer wanted in Austria for Holocaust denial - Haaretz

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Last update - 23:07 23/08/2007

Spanish police arrest writer wanted in Austria for Holocaust denial

By The Associated Press

Spanish police on Thursday arrested a right-wing writer and publisher wanted in his home country of Austria for repeatedly denying the existence of the Jewish Holocaust and the use of gas chambers, officials said.

Gerd Honsik was arrested in the southern city of Malaga, a police spokeswoman said. No more details on his arrest were immediately available.

Honsik had fled to Spain after being convicted in 1992 in Austria of neo-Nazi activities and sentenced to one year in prison for writings that defended Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.

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Between 1986 and 1989 Honsik published writings in a book disputing among other things that the Nazis systematically killed Jews at Auschwitz and other extermination camps during World War II.

The Austrian judge who convicted him ruled that Honsik's writings were a misleading, propaganda-like presentation of Nazi activities and that they lacked objectivity.

The Vienna public prosecutor's office said Thursday it had issued a European warrant seeking Honsik's arrest, based on suspicions that he had committed other offenses since Austria enacted a landmark 1992 law making it a crime to deny the Holocaust or promote Nazi propaganda.

It was unclear whether or when authorities might lodge a formal request to have Honsik extradited to Austria.

Spain had already twice turned down an Austrian extradition request for Honsik. Spain's high court said that Holocaust denial and neo-Nazi propaganda were not illegal in the country.

But after the European arrest warrant was issued, Honsik could be extradited for racist and xenophobic behaviour, the Austrian ministry said.

Spain has 90 days from the point when the arrest warrant was issued to decide whether to extradite Honsik.

In December, Austria deported British historian David Irving, who was arrested in 2005 and sentenced to three years in prison for denying the Holocaust. But he was granted an appeal to serve the remainder of his sentence on probation.

Denying the Holocaust in Austria, which provided a significant number of top Nazi leaders including Hitler, is a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

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1.	#1, Dovy	21:24	\|	Hannah	23/08/07

2.	Arrested because he was not objective in his writing??	21:40	\|	Moise	23/08/07

3.	Good for the Spanish judge and police (end)	21:52	\|	KUTW	23/08/07

4.	Pathetic...what next...being arrested for denying Jesus?	21:52	\|	Man on a rock	23/08/07

5.	Laws against Holocaust denial are wrong	21:55	\|	Israeli	23/08/07

6.	interesting. whatever happened to "freedom of expression"	21:57	\|	socalmaverick	23/08/07

7.	This is a problem	22:16	\|	Aaron Cohen	23/08/07

8.	The International Jew	22:17	\|	Average Joe	23/08/07

9.	As usual	23:48	\|	MS	23/08/07

10.	What makes a human human?	23:51	\|	Johnny	23/08/07

11.	Holed up with Peres or Foxman?	00:11	\|	W	24/08/07

12.	Censor: What has happened to Dovy`s post #1	00:15	\|	Hannah	24/08/07

13.	All genocide should be condemned!	00:16	\|	lakshmi	24/08/07

14.	Austria... what a joke!	00:33	\|	Götz	24/08/07

15.	Freedom	00:57	\|	ron	24/08/07

16.	makes no sense	01:23	\|	matt	24/08/07

17.	re: socalmaverick #6	01:54	\|	Mike	24/08/07

18.	Holocaust denial	02:20	\|	Gawith	24/08/07

19.	#7 Joe Schmo	02:47	\|	Reuben Jacobs	24/08/07

20.	Avg. Joe, Where is the dominance?	04:08	\|	Sam	24/08/07

21.	Is Freedom of Speech Under Attack By Judaism	04:09	\|	Mr. Knowitall	24/08/07

22.	Excellent Police Work	05:48	\|	B.Arsealona	24/08/07

23.	It`s a shame	06:38	\|	RileyDeWiley	24/08/07

24.	spanish police	17:48	\|	siegfried buchwalte	26/08/07

25.	so sad	00:32	\|	sweis Melbourne	27/08/07

26.	s	07:39	\|	x	28/08/07

27.	This blatant censorship only makes jews look bad because...	07:45	\|	E.G.	28/08/07

28.	Austria	15:39	\|	Albert Seligman	28/08/07

29.	This is good	17:01	\|	Tim	28/08/07

30.	censorship	04:15	\|	sweis Melbourne	29/08/07

31.	Hate	04:29	\|	In your face	29/08/07

32.	#28	17:42	\|	Shana	29/08/07

33.	never documented?	02:01	\|	sweis Melbourne	30/08/07

34.	Backlash begins??	07:08	\|	yrogergremle	30/08/07

35.	nope	19:19	\|	Shana	30/08/07

36.	#18 and #21	00:44	\|	John Kane	31/08/07

37.	Documented	05:02	\|	sweis Melbourne	31/08/07

38.	Documented	06:57	\|	sweis Melbourne	31/08/07

39.	thanks,	17:59	\|	Shana	31/08/07

40.	Shana	22:58	\|	sweis Melbourne	31/08/07

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