Hungarian police hand over Holocaust denier Mahler to German authorities

Hungarian police handed over Horst Mahler, a former German lawyer sentenced to prison for Holocaust denial, to German authorities on Tuesday, the national police confirmed MTI’s information.

Mahler, apprehended in western Hungary last month, will be taken to his native country by plane from Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport during the first half of the day, MTI’s on site correspondent said.

Mahler was apprehended in the western Hungarian town of Sopron on May 15 on the basis of an international arrest warrant.

The court last Tuesday ruled for Mahler’s extradition to German authorities in a simplified procedure.

Mahler was sentenced to 10 years of prison in 2009 for Holocaust denial in Germany. The sentence was suspended to allow the 81-year-old to receive medical treatment, and was to be resumed after the treatment was completed. Mahler, however, failed to comply with the rules of suspension, and travelled to Hungary. The Hungarian authorities detained him as soon as he entered the country.

Mahler first gained prominence as a founding member and lawyer in service of the Red Army Faction (RAF), a militant, far-left group in 1970’s Germany. He was sentenced to 14 years of prison for several crimes committed in league with RAF. In the 1990s, however, Mahler turned from leftist ideologies to far-right extremism, and became a member of the neo-Nazi German National Democratic Party (NPD) in 2000. Since then, he has been sentenced by German courts for Holocaust denial on several occasions. His lawyer’s licence was revoked in 2004.

Photo: Police.hu

Source: MTI