Nazi sympathisers are utilizing the Scottish Jail Service to fund the approach to life of a infamous French Holocaust denier.
Vincent Reynouard, 53, was arrested in Anstruther, Fife, in a joint operation involving Scottish and French authorities on November 10. Since then, the far-right have been banding collectively to ship the Frenchman cash and letters of encouragement to his jail cell in Edinburgh.
Following a listening to at Edinburgh Sheriff Courtroom final week, Reynouard was remanded in custody at HMP Edinburgh forward of an extradition listening to in February. He had boasted on-line about how donors have been bankrolling his exiled existence and had been the topic of a two-year seek for his whereabouts led by France's Central Workplace for the Battle towards Crimes towards Humanity and Hate Crimes.
Since his arrest, the hashtags #LibertePourReynouard and #JeSuisVincent have appeared on Twitter trying to encourage others to jot down letters addressed to his Edinburgh jail cell and fundraise. One tweet lists the tackle of HMP Edinburgh, the place Reynouard is being held, alongside his cell quantity.
It additionally particulars how supporters can ship cash to him through the Scottish Jail Service Prisoner Funds Central, an internet software which permits funds to be despatched to "mates and family members who're at present in custody" in Scotland.
The tweet reads: "To assist Vincent financially, which he actually wants proper now, there are two methods. Kilos sterling could be despatched on to him in money on the postal tackle indicated above, however the restrict should not exceed 50 kilos sterling for every transaction."
The main points have additionally been included in an article titled "All about Vincent Reynouard!" by French far-right web site Jeune Nation, named after a French nationalist and neo-fascist far-right motion based in 1949. Reynouard was convicted beneath anti-Nazi legal guidelines throughout the Channel, the place he was given a four-month jail time period in November 2020 and an extra six months in January 2021.
Holocaust denial has been a felony offence in France since 1990, and Reynouard has been convicted on quite a few events. He was given a four-month jail time period in November 2020 and an extra six months in January 2021.
His newest conviction was in relation to a sequence of anti-Semitic posts on social media. Reynouard claimed he was in a position to evade authorities as a result of regular stream of donations he had acquired from his supporters, in addition to revenue he acquired from working a number of hours every week as an internet maths tutor.
He described his "quite simple life in a small room creating movies, biking, studying and meditating" whereas consuming "the identical meals day-after-day (recent greens and Weetabix)" financed totally by donations.
A Scottish Jail Service spokesperson stated: "We do not touch upon people in our care. A Prisoner Funds Account, which is on the market in every institution, holds funds, which SPS are answerable for, on behalf of prisoners, together with private money, wages, and PIN cellphone balances.
"Each particular person in our care has entry to this technique, whereby cash could be transferred in by family and friends for use to buy PIN cellphone top-ups, sundry objects, and canteen merchandise. One technique of paying funds right into a prisoner's native account is by financial institution switch, for which an internet reference generator is used.
"Steerage on that is out there on the SPS web site, together with the higher restrict of £50 per switch. Along with this, native limits can also be set for money handed in, or despatched in, on the discretion of the Governor of every institution.
"Transactions will also be monitored for safety functions the place intelligence deems acceptable."
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