Lawyer says David Irving now acknowledges existence of Nazi gas chambers
Susanna Loof-Canadian Press-Friday, November 25, 2005
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - A lawyer for British historian David Irving said Thursday that Irving admitted past statements could be interpreted as denying the existence of Nazi gas chambers, but now acknowledges they existed.
Prosecutors earlier this week charged Irving under an Austrian law that makes denying the Holocaust a crime. The charges arise from two 1989 speeches Irving delivered in Austria in which he allegedly denied the existence of gas chambers. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Irving's arrest - in a country still coming to grips with its Nazi-ruled past - won praise worldwide.
But Irving's lawyer, Elmar Kresbach, said Thursday the historian has told him he now acknowledges that Nazi gas chambers existed.
"He changed some of the views he is so famous for," Kresbach told The Associated Press. "He told me: 'Look, there was a certain period when I drew conclusions from individual sources which are maybe provocative or could be misinterpreted or could be even wrong.' "
He said additional research Irving carried out after formerly Soviet archives were opened to scholars persuaded him that his former beliefs were "not really worthwhile to hold up," Kresbach said.
Irving is "correcting himself," Kresbach said, adding that the historian now "sees himself as somebody who can influence marginal groups who have difficulty believing in the Third Reich."
Austrian law does not allow Irving to be interviewed while in custody.
Irving, 67, has the right to appeal the charges but probably will not do so, Kresbach said. "There are transcripts from the speeches. We don't have to deny that he said that."
Instead, Kresbach said he would focus on showing how Irving's views have changed. He said he will argue at a custody hearing Friday that Irving should be released on bail.
"There is no actual relevance whatsoever for Austria. He is not dangerous in any way," he said. "Why do they need him here in jail around Christmas time? . . . Custody is for dangerous people."
No trial date has been announced. In Austria, suspected violations of the law that bans attempts to publicly diminish, deny or justify the Holocaust are heard by an eight-person layman jury and three judges.
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