Holocaust denier’s extradition hearing delayed again

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An extradition hearing for a Holocaust denier wanted by French police has been postponed again.

Vincent Reynouard was arrested in Anstruther, Fife, in November last year then remanded in custody after crossing the Channel in a bid to evade the French authorities, who have been pursuing him for two years.

The 54-year-old went on the run after he was convicted under anti-Nazi laws and handed a four-month jail sentence in November 2020, then a further six-month spell in January the following year.

Holocaust denial has been a criminal offence in France since 1990 and Reynouard has been convicted numerous times.

A full extradition hearing was supposed to get under way at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this year but lawyer Paul Dunne pushed for this to be postponed to allow videos Reynouard is alleged to have made to be translated into English.

When the case called again at the court on Thursday, Mr Dunne requested a further postponement, insisting certain “legal issues” understood to relate to the two arrest warrants issued by the French authorities had to be debated first.

He said another advocate specialising in extradition, Fred Mackintosh KC, is unable to come to court until the start of July at the earliest, and he asked for the full extradition hearing to be pushed back to later that month.

Sheriff Kenneth Campbell agreed to reschedule the full hearing for July 27, and he set a further preliminary hearing for July 13.

He also called for written submissions pertaining to the case to be handed in a week beforehand.