NOVANEWS
17.11.2010
Holocaust-denying Bishop’s lawyer pulls out of case ahead of trial
British Bishop Richard Williamson charged with denying in television interview that the Nazis systematically murdered millions of Jews.
The lawyer representing British Bishop Richard Williamson in a German trial over his denial of the extent of the Holocaust unexpectedly pulled out of the case on Wednesday, weeks before it was scheduled to go to court.
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British Bishop Richard Williamson. |
| Photo by: Archive |
Williamson, of the ultra-orthodox Catholic Society of St Pius X (SSPX), denied in a television interview last year that the Nazis had systematically murdered millions of Jews.
The interview, for a Swedish television channel, took place in Germany, where Holocaust denial is a criminal offence.
The court in the southern German town of Regensburg is now to decide next week whether to postpone the trial, scheduled for November 29.
Williamson’s defense lawyer, Matthias Lossmann, told German Press Agency dpa that they had “amicably ended” their cooperation, indicating that this was in part due to Williamson’s decision to hire another lawyer. He said the name would soon be made public.
“You will then see why I no longer feel called for,” he added.
Williamson’s remarks shook the Catholic church last year, as Pope Benedict XVI had ended the excommunication of Williamson and three other SSPX leaders weeks earlier.
In the TV interview, Williamson stated that no more than 300,000 people had died in concentration camps, and that nobody was killed in gas chambers.
