Vincent Reynouard, a convicted French Holocaust denier, has been arrested near Edinburgh after two years on the run, police said.
Investigators from France’s office for hate crimes and crimes against humanity have been working with Scottish officials to detain the 53-year-old since 2020.
Reynouard was most recently convicted under France’s anti-Nazi laws for a number of antisemitic posts and videos on social media. He was given a four-month jail term in November 2020 and a further six-month spell in January 2021.
Reynouard appeared before the Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday and a French judicial official confirmed that France was seeking his extradition.
The UK-based Campaign Against Antisemitism has welcomed the arrest and described Reynouard as a “despicable Holocaust denier who has repeatedly been convicted by French courts”.
The non-profit organisation said he was reportedly living in the UK and working as a private tutor.
It added that his first Holocaust denial conviction was in 1991 for distributing leaflets denying the existence of gas chambers at Nazi concentration camps.
