FRANCE: PARIS: WRITER CHARGED WITH CONTESTING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

Описание: (15 Jan 1998) French/Nat
French writer Roger Garaudy was in a Paris court on Thursday to face charges of contesting crimes against humanity.
The 84-year-old intellectual wrote a book in 1995 called, 'The Founding Myths of Israeli Politics.'
In the book, Garaudy accuses Jews of inflating the number of Holocaust victims, usually given at 6 million dead, to draw sympathy and support for Israel.
It's this book, called 'The Founding Myths of Israeli Politics' that has a writer in court and tempers flaring in Paris.
Author Roger Garaudy appeared in a Paris court on Thursday for his writings which French authorities consider 'contesting crimes against humanity.'
The author, who converted to Islam in 1982, charges in his book that the number of Jews who died in the Holocaust is inflated at six million, and that Jews influenced historical data on World War Two to get sympathy and support for Israel.
The hallway outside the court was packed with both supporters and detractors of Garaudy. The queue to get into the court for a glimpse of the writer was chaotic as French police struggled to maintain order.
Jewish activists and students held signs condemning the writer's theories and shouted back at those who came to back the accused man.
Right wing students, known as 'skinheads' came to the court chanting slogans, stirring up emotions on an already charged issue-the Holocaust.
Garaudy supporters, like this man arguing with police, have many unanswered questions.
SOUNDBITE: (Arabic)
"I believe it's a political trial, because are they trying him for his opinions or are they trying him for justice? Are they trying Garaudy for being a learned man?"
VOXPOP: Garaudy supporter
Several of the 'skinheads' who came to support Garaudy were escorted out of the courthouse.
If convicted, writer could face up to a year in prison and a hefty fine

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