Wednesday, November 11, 2009

British bishop 'to go on trial' in Germany over racial hatred

Richard Williamson, a British bishop who denied the Holocaust took place, has been summoned to appear in a German court for inciting racial hatred.

The member of the ultraconservative Saint Pius X Society, has denied the charges against him and refused to pay the 12,000-euro (£10,800) fine that would enable him to avoid trial, a court spokesman said.

The court has not yet set a date for the potential trial. Under German law Williamson has the right not to appear in person but to appoint a lawyer to plead his case for him.

He caused an outcry in January when he gave an interview near Regensburg, southern Germany, in which he said that "not one Jew" was killed in gas chambers.

"It was all lies, lies, lies," he said in an interview that was later aired on Swedish television.

The bishop said he believed "200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps, but none of them by gas chambers".

The outburst prompted a very rare comment on religious matters by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who called on Pope Benedict XVI to "clarify unambiguously that there can be no denial" the Nazis killed six million Jews.

Holocaust denial is illegal in Germany and Austria.
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