The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Call for probe into Holocaust denier’ s East Neuk bolthole
Authorities are facing calls for an immediate investigation into a how a French Holocaust denier managed to live undercover in Fife.
Vincent Reynouard was arrested in the Anstruther area on Friday, two years after being convicted under anti-nazi laws in France.
It is believed he had been tutoring school children in maths, physics and chemistry while using a false identity.
But mystery surrounds his circumstances, with people in the East Neuk village saying they have no idea who he is.
Community council secretary Daryl Wilson said: “He must be very good at hiding if he managed to hide in this town.”
Daryl said Mr Reynouard’s arrest had been the talk of the village but no one recognised him.
“Everybody knows each other here but we know nothing about this. Absolutely nothing,” she said.
“We’ve all been talking to each other about it, including in our Facebook groups.
“Nobody recognises him at all. It’s all a bit strange.”
East Neuk councillor Sean Dillon thanked police for their work in tracking Mr Reynouard down.
“The views this man
holds are abhorrent in any society and are especially not welcome in the East Neuk,” he said.
As locals reacted with bewilderment, Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie said questions must be asked.
“I know that news of Mr Raynouard’s arrest has concerned many people locally,” he said. “I am glad the police operation was carried out effectively.
“As we learn more about the situation there will be questions to ask about whether appropriate criminal record checks were carried out before he reportedly worked with children and young people as a tutor.
“An immediate investigation should also consider why he wasn’t identified by authorities more quickly.”
Mr Reynouard was jailed for four months in November 2020 following a series of anti-semitic posts on Facebook.
He was given a further six-month sentence in January 2021 but managed to escape the authorities and fled across the Channel.
Holocaust denial has been a criminal offence in France since 1990, and Reynouard has been convicted on numerous occasions.
Police Scotland confirmed the 53-year-old was arrested on behalf of
“An investigation should also consider why he wasn’t identified by authorities
French authorities on Friday.
He appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court later that day.
A police spokesman said: “He was arrested at an address in the Anstruther area of Fife on a Trade and Co-operation Agreement warrant issued in France.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomed the arrest and described Reynouard as a “despicable Holocaust denier who has repeatedly been convicted by French courts”.
The charity said his first Holocaust denial conviction was in 1991 for distributing leaflets denying the existence of gas chambers at concentration camps.