Greek court clears far-rightist of Holocaust denial

Greek court officials said judges overturned Friday a far-rightist's conviction for inciting racial hatred with a book that denies the Holocaust took place.

A five-member panel of appeals court judges voted 4-1 to overturn a lower court's decision that sentenced Costas Plevris to 14 months in prison for his book "The Jews: The whole truth."

The Greek News newspaper quoted Plevris as having glorified Hitler and calling for the extermination of the Jews in his 1,400 page book.

He declares himself "a Nazi, a fascist, a racist, an anti-democrat, an anti-Semite," according to the Greek-American paper. "Jews are mortal enemies and deserve the firing squad," he was quoted as saying.

Court officials said the Athens appeals court ruled that Plevris was entitled to express his views in the book.

In the first trial in 2007, Greek Jewish community leaders had testified that Plevris' book has led to an increase in attacks on Jewish monuments.

An estimated 60,000 Greek Jews were killed by the Nazis during World War II. Around 4,000 Jews live today in Greece.