National Front leader to be tried in September on charge of Holocaust denial

A trial date has been set in France for National Front deputy leader Bruno Gollnisch on charges that he denied the Holocaust. Gollnisch will be tried on 6 September for remarks at a Lyon news conference in October last year during which he questioned that the Nazis used gas chambers in their concentration camps. He affirmed that he was not questioning whether or not “many millions died” but rather had expressed his belief that the exact number and “the way they died” needed further debate. Questioning the Holocaust is a criminal offense in France, under a law that forbids calling into question crimes against humanity. As a result of the comments, Gollnisch has been suspended for five years from the University of Lyon, where he is a professor of law and Japanese civilization.