A German court handed a five-year prison sentence to a neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier for denying that Holocaust ever took place. This is the maximum sentence that can be given under the German laws for such a crime.

The Mannheim court found Ernst Zuendel, 67, guilty of 14 counts for inciting racial hatred and for denying that six million Jews died during World War II under the Nazis. Zuendel has been often found to write sympathetic words on Nazis and has already published a book called "The Hitler We Loved and Why".

During the trial, Zuendel was charged with trying to rewrite the Holocaust history by publishing articles denying that Nazi role in the killings. However he denied the charges and said that it would be against his freedom to of speech prosecute him.

Denying Holocaust or glorifying the Nazis is a crime in Germany and its leaders are thinking of proposing such a ban across the EU during their tenure of presidency of the bloc. Germany is also mulling over a decision to ban the use of Nazi symbols such as the swastika in the member states.

Zuendel lived in Canada since 1958 but was deported in 2005 as the Canadian government deemed him to be a national security threat. He has been under custody since March 2005. Zuendel said that he is willing to apologize to Jews and any other people offended if an international commission of experts would prove that Holocaust indeed took place.