Holocaust denier from Britain pursuing case against premier

SYDNEY, Australia, Jan. 21 (JTA) — David Irving, a Holocaust denier from Britain, has said he is taking legal action against Australian Prime Minister John Howard as part of his longtime struggle against the nation’s authorities. Irving said the premier had not apologized for the immigration minister’s comments about his criminal record, Australian media reported. The immigration minister, Philip Ruddock, had said that in November, Irving had been refused a visa to enter Australia for the third time in four years. However, Irving is not appealing the November decision to refuse him entry, and he owes Australian courts tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. In 1993, Irving launched a number of legal actions on defamation grounds against journalists and publications that opposed his 1992 visa application. None of his efforts was successful. Irving, the author of several books that deny that the Holocaust took place, has spoken at rallies and meetings of Holocaust deniers and other extreme right-wing groups in Europe and the Americas. He has said his enemies around the world had spread misinformation to keep him out of Australia. He also has claimed that only 1 million Jews were killed in World War II and that Holocaust survivors were all victims of faulty memory.