Lawyer is sentenced for racism
Lawyer Costas Plevris was handed a 14-month suspended sentence yesterday for inciting racial hatred through his book «Jews: The Whole Truth,» which denies the Holocaust took place. The court in Athens cleared the publisher, editor and a journalist at the small right-wing newspaper Eleftheros Kosmos that published extracts of the book, which was released in 2006. Plevris decried the verdict, saying, «Jews are trying to fight me with this trial so they can shut my mouth.» He also accused the Jews of «making a business out of the Holocaust so they can claim compensation from the German state.» Jewish community leaders applauded the court’s decision. «We thank the Greek justice system for its dignity and for demonstrating that we truly live in a democratic society,» said Moisis Constantinis, the president of the Central Jewish Council of Greece. The main prosecutor in the case had recommended that Plevris be cleared, arguing that he had «simply written a book,» not committed a criminal act.
