A Danish court has backed a German request to extradite American neo-Nazi Gary Lauck.
A district court ruled Tuesday that Lauck’s written and verbal attacks on Jews violated Danish anti-racism laws, allowing for the extradition.
If the extradition occurs, Lauck will face charges of smuggling banned hate literature into Germany for two decades.
Lauck, 41, was arrested March 20 in Denmark at the request of German police.
Lauck is the leader of the National Socialist German Worker’s Party-Foreign Organization, a name derived from the official name of the party of Adolf Hitler.
Dubbed the “Farm-Belt Fuehrer” by the Anti-Defamation League, Lauck set up his base in Lincoln, Neb., from where he shipped anti-Semitic and racist literature to Germany.
Abraham Foxman, ADL national director, said “Bringing Lauck to justice will send a clear message around the world that Nazism, anti-Semitism and racism will not be tolerated.”
Lauck has said his group is heir to the Nazi party and that Hitler was “too humane.”
His group’s publications include Nazi magazines in a dozen languages. Lauck, who served four months in a German jail in 1976 for distributing Nazi propaganda, has served as editor of a German-language newspaper called NS Kampfruf, which means “Nazi battle cry.”
Germany bans the use or publication of Nazi symbols or ideology.
Denmark and the United States have more liberal laws, which have been exploited by neo-Nazis to publish beyond the reach of German police.
In the past, Danish courts have turned down German extradition requests for neo-Nazi publishers. But this case could put pressure on neo-Nazis working out of southern Denmark, sources said.
Lauck’s lawyer, Erik Liisborg, has already filed an appeal, claiming that the extradition to Germany could not take place because Lauck’s publishing activity is based in Nebraska and is not illegal under Danish law.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
