Outspoken Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel was silent Wednesday, when he appeared in a German court for his arraignment.
Zundel, who was deported from Canada on Tuesday, sat stoically during his closed hearing in the southwestern city of Mannheim.
“Herr Zundel did not have anything to say about the charges when they were read to him,” court spokesperson Ulrich Krehbiel said.
Prosecutors allege that Zundel’s website targets Germans with its promotion of anti-Semitic activities and denials that Nazis under the command of Adolf Hitler murdered six million Jews during the course of the Second World War.
Denying the Holocaust is a criminal offence in Germany. If he is found guilty of inciting hatred, the 65-year-old German citizen could face up to five years in jail.
Zundel emigrated to Canada in 1958, and lived there as a landed immigrant for the next 42 years. He then went to the United States, but was sent back to Canada after he overstayed his visa there.
When he returned to Canada, Zundel detained on a national security certificate. He then spent the next two years alone in a Toronto jail cell.
Last week, Canadian Federal Court Justice Pierre Blais ruled that Zundel’s links to neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups that espouse violence posed a threat to national security, and therefore should be sent back to his native Germany.
“Mr. Zundel’s activities are not only a threat to Canada’s national security but also a threat to the international community of nations,” Blais said in his decision.
Source: www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1109774902929_9/?hub=Canada