5 August 2005

BRUSSELS — Belgian negationist and extreme-rights publicist Siegfried Verbeke has been arrested at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and might be extradited to Germany for trial.

A German judge issued an international arrest warrant against Verbeke at the end of last year because he cast doubt over the internet whether the Nazis actually killed six million Jews in World War II.

Germany asked Belgium to extradite Verbeke, of Kortrijk, last year but a Belgian judge refused the request, Belgian newspaper 'De Standaard' reported on Friday.

Verbeke has already been convicted in Belgium for negationism. The appeals court in Antwerp sentenced him in April this year to a maximum one-year jail term and a EUR 2,500 fine for breaching negationist and anti-racism laws.

The 63-year-old Verbeke has been the head of the Free Historical Research centre (VHO) since 1983. The centre publishes books in which the Holocaust is denied or downplayed.

Verbeke has used the principle of freedom of speech to defend himself in the past and is a renowned figure across Europe. He holds links with various extreme-rights groups across the continent, Flemish broadcaster VRT reported.

[Copyright Expatica News 2005]

Subject: Belgian news