Friday 19 February 2010

Ernst Zundel to be freed in Germany

BERLIN - Ernst Zundel, the far-right activist deported from Canada in 2005, will soon be released from prison after serving his five-year sentence for denying the Holocaust, a German prosecutor said Wednesday.

Mannheim prosecutor Andreas Grossmann said Zundel, 70, will be released March 1 after receiving credit for time served ahead of his 2007 trial.

He was convicted in February 2007 of 14 counts of inciting hatred for years of anti-Semitic activities, including contributing to a website devoted to denying the Holocaust - a crime in Germany.

Prosecutors were able to bring charges in Germany because the website was accessible there. Zundel, who also has lived in Tennessee, and his supporters had argued he was exercising his right to free speech.

Zundel is a German citizen so he can go wherever he wants in the country following his release, Grossmann said, adding that he has relatives in the Stuttgart area.

Zundel, author of "The Hitler We Loved and Why," was deported from Canada in 2005 after a lengthy fight. More

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