Скачать или смотреть FRANCE: TRIAL OF MAN ACCUSED OF DOUBTING HOLOCAUST DEATHS ENDS

(16 Jan 1998) Natural Sound

The trial of a French writer who accused Jews of exaggerating the number of holocaust victims has ended in Paris.

Roger Garaudy is being tried for casting doubt on whether six million Jews died in Nazi death camps.

The prosecution claims that Garaudy is guilty of defamation and provoking racial hatred, which are crimes in France.

However the 84 year old writer is on trial for the specific charge of 'contesting crimes against humanity' which carries a maximum 300 thousand franc fine and one year in jail.

Roger Garaudy faced his last day in the Paris court on Friday.

At issue are the contents of a book the 84 year old intellectual wrote in 1995 called 'The founding myth of Israeli politics'.

In that book Garaudy accused Jews of inflating the number of Holocaust victims to draw sympathy and support for Israel.

He refers to the extermination of six million Jews as 'a myth'.

On Thursday, the prosecutor requested that the writer received a fine of 150 thousand francs.

However depending on the verdict, which is expected in the next three weeks, Garaudy could face a one year prison term and fines of up to 300 thousand francs.

Tempers have flared in the Paris court house where the trial has been taking place.

Garaudy has received support for his work from organisations in many Arabic states.

Groups have been fund-raising to finance his defence and petitions have been circulated to the French authorities.

But Jewish activists are incensed by Garaudy's work and have demonstrated daily outside the court, condemning his theories and shouting back at those who are backing the accused man.

The writer, who converted himself to Islam in 1982, declared he is not an anti-semite but an anti-zionist activist.

France's far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen was found guilty in December 1997 of the same charge of contesting crimes against humanity.

He referred to the Nazi gas chambers in which Jews died as a 'detail in history.'

It was the second time he was convicted for the same remark.

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