Swedish publisher fined for Holocaust-denial book in Hungary

The head of a publishing house in Budapest has been fined for publishing and selling in 2012 the Hungarian translation of a book by a Swedish author denying that the Holocaust took place.

The prosecutors of Budapest’s 5th and 13th districts brought charges against the publisher of a book denying the Holocaust, the Budapest chief prosecutor told MTI on last Thursday. Written by a Swedish author, the book was published in 2012 and distributed by the accused, Tibor Ibolya said in a statement. Last week the prosecutor’s office requested the court to impose a fine on the publisher, who has admitted to the crime, it said. A Budapest district court has ordered the internet content concerned to be made temporarily unavailable in 2016. The indictment requested the ban to be made permanent.

Tibor Ibolya, Budapest’s public prosecutor, said in a statement today that a fine of 120,000 forints (EUR 393) had been levied against the accused. If the head of the publisher fails to pay within 120 days then the sentence will be changed to a term of imprisonment, he added.

The prosecutor has not released the name of the author, the title of the book or the name of the Hungarian publisher.

The authorities have also ordered a ban on related content on the internet.

As we wrote on June, Hungarian police handed over Horst Mahler, a former German lawyer sentenced to prison for Holocaust denial, to German authorities on Tuesday.

Source: MTI