Austrian author guilty of glorifying Nazi era sentenced to 5 jail years

Austrian Gerd Honsik is led to the courtroom
in Vienna's main court in Austria, on Monday

A right-wing Austrian author was found guilty Monday of glorifying the Nazi era and sentenced to five years in prison. Appeals were lodged both by the defense lawyer of Gerd Honsik and by the public prosecutor, who found the sentence too mild.

Honsik, 67, was found guilty of "Wiederbetaetigung" - which means "re-engaging" in Nazi era beliefs. The crime is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Honsik wrote a book, "Hitler Innocent?," in which he attempted to justify some Nazi-era crimes.

He was originally convicted of neo-Nazi activities in 1992 for writings that defended Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, but he fled to Spain, where authorities arrested him in October 2007 and subsequently extradited him. Between 1986 and 1989, Honsik published writings disputing that the Nazis killed millions of Jews at Auschwitz and other concentration camps during World War II.

Austrian authorities have said they suspect him of committing similar offenses since Austria enacted a landmark 1992 law making it a crime to deny the Holocaust or promote Nazi propaganda.

Jewish World