One of the most infamous French Holocaust deniers, who fled the country after being convicted under anti-Nazi laws, does not consent to be extradited to France from Scotland.
Vincent Reynouard, an infamous French Holocaust denier convicted on several occasions in France, was arrested in the fishing town of Anstruther, north of the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, in November. He was excused from attending his preliminary extradition hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
“Mr Reynouard does not consent to extradition to France,” his lawyer, who asked not to be named, told the court, reports the France24.
“There is a matter that is, I think, of legal significance that I need more time to consider,” claimed Reynouard. Sheriff Norman McFadyen agreed to continue the case until January 12.
Reynouard had been sought by France’s central office for committing crimes against humanity, known by its initials OCLCH. Holocaust denial has been a criminal offence in France since 1990, and Reynouard has been convicted numerous times.
He was first convicted as a student in 1991 for distributing revisionist literature. In 2001, he was suspended from teaching after printing and distributing Holocaust-denial pamphlets and setting homework involving counting concentration camp victims.
In 2007, Reynouard was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 10,000 euros for Holocaust denial after writing a pamphlet claiming the death of six million Jews during World War II was “impossible”. Moreover, in November 2020, he received a four-month prison sentence and a further six-month term in January 2021 concerning a series of antisemitic posts on social media. He had questioned the Holocaust in several online videos.
For now, Reynouard remains in custody. A full extradition hearing is due to take place in February in Scotland.
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