By Anne-France White - 19th January 2007
MEP Bruno Gollnisch, the leader of the European parliament’s far-right group, has been fined by a French court for questioning the Holocaust.
The court in Lyon handed Gollnisch a 5000 euro fine and a three-month suspended prison sentence for remarks made at a press conference in 2004.
Gollnisch, who is the deputy leader of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front, has also been ordered to pay 55,000 euros in damages to the plaintiffs.
But the MEP was not in court to hear the verdict, as he was attending parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg.
The court said Gollnisch had called into question the number of Jews killed during the Second World War and whether gas chambers had been used to kill them.
In a statement released on 18 January, the MEP said he would appeal against the verdict, with his lawyer saying it was a “categorical violation of freedom of speech”.
The ruling is an embarrassing setback for Gollnisch, coming just days after he was elected as leader of parliament’s new far-right group “Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty” (ITS).
The controversial new group – which brings together 20 far-right MEPs – is already facing several setbacks after its first week of existence.
Socialist and green MEPs have launched a campaign to strip the group of its funding on the basis that it does not have a “consistent” programme.
Meanwhile, there has already been bickering within the group, with British MEP Ashley Mote criticising his Bulgarian colleague Dimitar Stoyanov for saying he opposed the “Jewish establishment”.
Further wrangling could dissolve ITS, which has just enough MEPs to form a group in parliament.
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.