David Irving: Austria to try historian on Holocaust denial charges in February

An Austrian court will begin the trial of British historian David Irving in February on charges of denying the Holocaust, a court spokesman said on Tuesday.

Irving was arrested in the southern province of Styria last month under a warrant issued in 1989 and has since been remanded in custody and charged with denying the Holocaust, a crime in Austria which carries a sentence of one to 10 years in prison.

"Irving's trial will take place on Feb. 20 and 21 from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. (0800-1500 GMT)," said a spokesman for the Vienna regional court. "I can't say any more on that now," he added.

Irving's Web site said he had been invited by students to address a university association in Austria. In a message dated Nov. 11, it said he was on a one-day visit to the Austrian capital.

When driving to the meeting in Vienna, students noticed plainclothes detectives waiting for him, Irving told Austrian weekly magazine News last month. He changed plans and drove to Graz in the southern province of Styria to visit one of his publishers. Police stopped him on the motorway and detained him.