- BERLIN (CP) - German prosecutors
said Tuesday they have charged white supremacist Ernst Zundel with inciting
racial hatred, four months after he was deported from Canada.
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- German authorities accuse Zundel of decades of anti-Semitic
activities, including repeated denials of the Holocaust - a crime in Germany
- in documents and on the Internet. Zundel is "known internationally
as a leader of the right-wing scene," prosecutors in the southwestern
city of Mannheim said Tuesday in a statement listing 14 examples of alleged
incitement.
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- It was unclear when he might face a trial, which Jewish
leaders hope will spread awareness of the Holocaust.
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- Zundel was arrested in March on his arrival in Germany
after a long legal battle, and remains in jail. He had been detained in
Toronto since 2003 under anti-terrorism laws and deported after a Canadian
judge ruled his activities a threat to national and international security.
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- The Canadian Jewish Congress said it was glad to hear
Zundel had been charged, but said justice will not be served fully until
he is convicted.
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- "Certainly we're very pleased that German prosecutors
have charged Mr. Zundel," spokesman Len Rudner said from Toronto.
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- "But it's a successful prosecution that will go
a long way to completely discrediting Ernst Zundel."
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- Born in Germany in 1939, Zundel emigrated to Canada in
1958 and lived in Toronto and Montreal until 2001. Canadian officials rejected
his attempts to obtain citizenship in 1966 and 1994.
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- He moved to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., until he was deported
to Canada in 2003 for alleged immigration violations.
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- While Jewish groups in Canada hailed Zundel's deportation,
some civil libertarians argued it was a crime against freedom of speech.
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- "Banning ideas - even foolish ones - is just never
healthy," Paul Fromm, the president of the Canadian Association for
Freedom of Expression, said Tuesday from Toronto after hearing of Zundel's
charges.
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- "It's very disappointing and it's sad to see the
German government has learned nothing about democracy."
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- German prosecutors obtained an arrest warrant for Zundel
in 2003. Because his Holocaust-denying website was available in Germany,
he is considered to have been spreading his message to Germans.
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