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Nazi defender pulls out of SOAS lecture

February 2, 2012 15:31
Jacques Vergès has defended Nazi war criminals, Holocaust deniers and Palestinian terrorists

ByJessica Elgot, Jessica Elgot

1 min read

A controversial lawyer who made his name defending Nazis, Holocaust deniers and Palestinian terrorists, has pulled out of a talk at SOAS tomorrow.

Anti-fascist campaigners, SOAS professor Colin Shindler and MPs including Denis MacShane, Lee Scott and Mike Freer expressed outrage when it was announced that French barrister Jacques Vergès, known as the Devil's Advocate, would speak at the London university. Mr Vergès has developed bronchitis and will now not travel to London.

The defence by Mr Vergès, 86, of Lyon Gestapo head Klaus Barbie and pro-Palestinian terrorist Carlos the Jackal was financed by Francois Genoud, a Swiss Nazi who was the executor of Joseph Goebbels's will.

The Union of Jewish Students and SOAS JSoc had been planning to place protest banners and memorial candles outside the lecture theatre before Shabbat.