A French high court has upheld the law singling out Holocaust denial as a crime, ruling that the World War II genocide is of a "different nature" than other crimes against humanity.
A math teacher fired after being convicted of Holocaust denial had challenged the law, saying it unfairly punished only those disputing or denying the Jewish Holocaust, but not other crimes against humanity.
The Constitutional Court ruled Friday that the Nazi Holocaust "has in itself a racist and anti-Semitic significance" and, additionally, was committed in part on French territory.
In 2001, the France recognized the 1915 Armenian genocide and declared slavery a crime against humanity. The UN has recognized the Tutsi genocide committed by the Hutus in Rwanda in 1994. Denying or disputing them is not illegal.
