French far-right activist and essayist Alain Soral, 60, was sentenced on Monday by a Paris court to a year in prison for denying the Holocaust.
Soral was convicted by the court for publishing on his website some legal commentary written by his lawyer in connection with another case, in which the lawyer, Damien Viguier, disputed the authenticity of the Holocaust. Soral’s lawyer was fined 5,000 euros ($5650).
Both Soral and Viguier were also ordered to pay a symbolic 1 euro fine, reflecting damages, as well as 1,500 euros in legal fees to four anti-racist groups.
Beyond the prison term, the court also issued an arrest warrant for Soral.
Soral has been sentenced to jail before, for inciting racial hatred.
The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra) hailed “the firmness of this decision” and called on web servers to shut down all of Soral’s websites.
For Sacha Ghozlan, president of the Union of Jewish Students in France (UEJF), said, “This condemnation is an important victory against the anti-Semitic hater and Holocaust-denier Alain Soral. Indeed, despite the many fines he has been sentenced to, he has never stopped spreading hatred. His place is in prison.”
The Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France (Crif), the umbrella representative group of French Jewish institutions, noted with satisfaction that the legal measures taken against Alain Soral were in accord with the seriousness of his actions.