REGENSBURG, Germany (WJC)–The bishop of the ultra-conservative Catholic Society of St Pius X (SSPX), Richard Williamson, is facing trial in Germany for denying the Holocaust. Williamson has lodged an appeal against a fine of US$ 19,000 imposed on him by a German court two weeks ago. As Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany, and because he gave the interview for Swedish television on German soil, he was prosecuted in the Bavarian city of Regensburg.
As Williamson refuses to pay the fine, a full trial will now be held, although Williamson can absent himself from it and send a lawyer instead. The British bishop caused embarrassment to the Vatican in January when his excommunication from the Catholic Church, and that of three other SSPX bishops, after the interview was aired.
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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress