The jailed revisionist scholar Vincent Reynouard has written from his prison cell in Edinburgh to the French newspaper RIVAROL, which published the letter in its current edition. RIVAROL and its editor Jérôme Bourbon are among the foremost champions of traditional European freedoms and civilization.
The following is an English translation of Vincent’s letter, which incorporates the introduction to his Memoirs which he has begun writing while incarcerated. Any errors in translation are of course my responsibility.
Dear RIVAROL, dear friends and readers of RIVAROL,
Thank you for your support. It is very kind of you. I’m in a good mood, everything is going well inside and outside the cell. We are allowed out for two hours each day for walking, showering, playing billiards or ping-pong. I do maths and physics exercises to pass the time.
As for the extradition, there will be a preliminary hearing on 8th December because I have appointed a new lawyer with effect from 17th November: Mr Paul Dunne, a lawyer from Edinburgh. He is an extradition specialist. From what my previous Scottish lawyer told me, a strong argument can be made against my extradition: my “crime” committed in France is not considered a crime here. Therefore, the European arrest warrant might not apply here. Hence the need for a more specialized lawyer.
Since November 16, I am the “star”. They dedicated an article to me in the tabloid The Sun, which many people read in prison. At lunchtime, the waiters (they are prisoners, and the food is distributed as in a self-service canteen) asked me: “Are you Vincent Reynouard?”
“Yes”, I answered, surprised (because I am very discreet here). “You are in the newspaper”, “You are a Holocaust denier”, “You say that Hitler did not massacre the Jews”. All in English (with a strong Scottish accent), said in a very nice way. Nobody had hatred or contempt, it was a matter of freedom of expression. A little intimidated, I replied: “Yes, I’m surprised to be in an English newspaper…”
Since then, when I go into the prison corridor (one may go out for two hours each day, one hour in the morning, one in the afternoon), I feel that people look at me differently: I am a “celebrity”. Some prisoners have asked me what revisionism is. I’ve explained to them succinctly. They kindly listened to me. In short, I’m living a rather fun adventure. As in Valenciennes, the prisoners and the guards are very friendly. The guards call you by name.
The food is barely enough, but (very) good. In the morning, it is a single roll of bread, a small jar of jam, about 200 grams of cereals (Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, etc.) and a half litre of fresh milk each day. For lunch and dinner, we can choose between three menus, including a vegetarian one. Often it is: large steamed potatoes, beans and salad with an apple. One may take almost unlimited bread. In short, I’m not complaining. Meals are at 8 a.m., at noon and at 4 p.m. Therefore, you need to save something for the evening. The “canteen” is similar to the Forest prison in Brussels.
I have an A4 notebook, a pen, a razor, coffee…, in short, everything useful. If you can send me sketch pads, with pencil, erasers, etc., that would be nice. In the prison hall we have a small library. Only a few of the books are interesting. You could send me more. Below you will find a drawing of the cell I share with Steve, 43 years old, who is “down” for drug dealing (cocaine I think). He is very nice and we get along well. The cell is very clean, because we are both clean. Steve watches TV all day, but he watches a lot of documentaries (some of which are interesting) and he’s nice enough to turn the volume down just enough not to bother me.
During my “walk” around, I speak with a Bulgarian and a Romanian, who are also awaiting possible extradition. They are friendly. The main thing in jail is to keep your spirits up. I maintain my morale and try to keep calm and focus. I meditate every night on the meaning of life.
I have started writing my memoirs. Here, attached to this letter, are the first two pages representing the full introduction. I propose that they be published, in excerpts (in principle I will send some every week, or almost) on Wednesdays in RIVAROL and the next day or Friday in my Blog Sans Concession. Writing without a computer is difficult, because you have to do several drafts before you have a correct text. Therefore, I hope that in France, if they put me in pre-trial detention (if I am extradited), I will be able to benefit from a computer with printer and ink cartridge!
MEMOIRS: INTRODUCTION
Edinburgh Prison, 14th November 2022, 2 a.m.
I’m starting to write my memoirs. Why have I decided to do this? Because after my arrest, four days ago by the Scottish authorities, I have no illusions: the French authorities who, on June 25, 2021, issued a European arrest warrant against me, will obtain my extradition. Back in France, I will serve several prison terms for “denying crimes against humanity.” In total, these sentences exceed 24 months (Editor’s Note: 29 months to be exact). No doubt there will be other convictions for the same reason, because since my exile in Britain in June 2015, I have published numerous revisionist videos liable to fall under the Gayssot law. Several are not time-barred, either because they were published less than a year ago or are already the object of court cases. Therefore, I expect to stay in prison for five years or more.
I have no regrets. My new book on Oradour, Le Cri des victimes, should appear in the next few days. Knowing that this is a “historically incorrect” book, my extradition and my imprisonment amount to promotional material of the first order, better than I could have expected. This book is the work of my life, because it is an original, unique work. Certainly, as a revisionist, I would still have things to say on the question of the homicidal gas chambers and on deportation in general. But my site and my blog publish 90% to 95% of my work on these topics. In addition, the works of Carlo Mattogno, Jürgen Graf, Germar Rudolf and Thomas Kues constitute an irreplaceable mine of arguments. I never intended to match them. These books published in the Holocaust Handbooks collection establish historical revisionism stricto sensu. They are waiting for translators to make them accessible to the French-speaking public.
Therefore, now deprived of my documentation, I decided to write my memoirs. In addition to the colourful anecdotes that have filled my turbulent life, you will find my explanations about the origins of the activism that landed me in jail. My revisionist commitment is largely explained by my childhood and adolescence. They could have led me to nihilism and self-destruction. Why did I prefer the path of idealism and dedicating myself to a cause that I believe is noble? The answer may benefit others who have also experienced a difficult youth, whatever the reason. I would add that my commitment to revisionism has caused me much hardship, both in the legal field and in my family and professional life. Far from having embittered me or filled me with hatred, these experiences have contributed, on the contrary, to making me wiser and therefore more peaceful.
How can I escape the trap – because it is a trap – which consists of blaming the mistakes of others (parents, relatives, circumstances, adversaries…) to explain one’s problems? The trap is all the more dangerous because, at first, self-justification through anger seems possible.
Quickly, however, we find ourselves stuck in a treacle of negative feelings that eat away at us, sometimes destroying us. How, then, was I able to overcome this stumbling block? The answer seems crucial to me, because it can help those who, in their lives, will experience painful trials, even in contexts very different from mine. It will be understood, I do not write these memoirs for the pleasure of self-expression, but to contribute something to my readers. In short, these memoirs are part of my revisionist mission, a mission that consists of providing others with answers. Hence my intention not to hide anything, including those facts that argue against me. In fact, a true story is much richer in lessons than a pro domo plea or, worse still, a self-serving fiction.
Jérôme Bourbon, editor of RIVAROL, writes:
Since his exile in Great Britain on June 16, 2015, almost seven and a half years ago, Vincent Reynouard has to date been sentenced in FIVE cases by the French courts. It should be noted that all these sentences were imposed for violation of the Fabius-Gayssot law of July 13, 1990 within the framework of the press law. If this active revisionist is finally extradited to France, or if he is expelled from the United Kingdom, these are the court sentences that he will have to face in our country:
1) On June 17, 2015, Vincent Reynouard was sentenced by the Caen appeal court to a year in prison (without a fine) for a 2014 video (now deleted) about the brainwashing of children and adolescents as part of the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings. It should be noted that in the first instance (Vincent was then present at the hearing, but without the assistance of a lawyer), the Coutances court, on February 11, 2015, had sentenced him to two years in prison. A manifestly illegal sentence (the Gayssot law provides for a maximum one-year prison sentence), for which reason the prosecutor Renaud Gaudeul, aware of this illegality, had appealed the sentence himself. Vincent Reynouard, through his then lawyer, Maître Wilfried Paris, had appealed to the Court of Cassation, immediately after the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Caen on June 17, 2015. The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal one year later, on June 21, 2016. Meanwhile, the Constitutional Council, then chaired by Jean-Louis Debré, on January 8, 2016 rejected a priority question of constitutionality, a ‘QPC’, on the Gayssot law presented by Vincent through his lawyer.
2) On February 3, 2016, the Paris Court of Appeal (Press Section) sentenced Vincent Reynouard —who was not present or represented at the hearing— to two months in prison for an article published in RIVAROL on May 27 of 2011, in the midst of the New York Sofitel affair, and entitled: “Open letter to defenders of Dominique Strauss-Kahn” [until then a Socialist presidential hopeful]. Neither party appealed in cassation.
3) On November 4, 2016, the XVIIth Chamber of the Criminal Court of Paris (press chamber) sentenced Vincent Reynouard, who was neither present nor represented, to five months in prison for two revisionist videos from December 2014, and awarded €4,000 to the LICRA [activist body of the lobby-that-doesn’t exist], a civil party to the case (€2,000 in damages and interest, plus €2,000 costs). No appeal was filed against this decision.
4) On November 25, 2020, the XVIIth Chamber of the Paris Criminal Court (press chamber) sentenced Vincent Reynouard, who was neither present nor represented, to four months in prison for a revisionist video of May 3, 2017. No appeal was filed against this ruling.
5) On January 22, 2021, the XVIIth Chamber of the Paris Criminal Court (press chamber) sentenced Vincent Reynouard, who was neither present nor represented, to six months in prison for a revisionist video from 2019. There was no appeal against this judgement.
12 months + 2 months + 5 months + 4 months + 6 months = 29 MONTHS in prison.
However, this total does not take into account any further prosecution and conviction (the European Jewish Congress has already let it be known that it had filed a complaint in March 2022 against Vincent over one of his videos and was awaiting his return to France!), nor the concurrency and automatic remissions of the sentence (which can represent up to around a third of the total sentence), nor the possibility that Vincent will oppose these judgments and therefore face trial once he is in France.
This should be possible for all cases, except in principle for the first one in which his then-lawyer, barrister Paris, represented him and with his agreement lodged an appeal which was rejected on June 21, 2016. However, there is a risk in opposing judicial decisions: it is that one might face the same sentence, or an even more severe sentence than the first time. A risk of which Vincent is perfectly aware.
You can write to Vincent Reynouard in Edinburgh prison in Scotland where he is detained until at least February 23, 2023, the date on which there will be a court hearing on the merits of the case concerning his (possible) extradition to France. To the following address:
Vincent REYNOUARD
Prisoner number: 160071
HMP Edinburgh
Scottish Prison Service
33 Stenhouse Road
Edinburgh
EH11 3LN
Scotland
United Kingdom.
It is very important to indicate clearly after his name his prisoner number, 160071. A sender must be indicated on the back of the envelope (with first name, surname and address), otherwise the mail will not be delivered to the prisoner.
Moreover, to help Vincent Reynouard financially, which he badly needs at the moment, there are two ways.
— One may send him pounds sterling directly in cash to the postal address indicated above but the limit must not exceed £50 sterling for each sending.
— Or you can make a bank transfer to the Scottish Prison Service Prisoner Funds Central, specifying as the transfer reference “160071-18/02/1969”, i.e. the prison number (160071), followed by a dash, followed by Vincent’s date of birth (02/18/1969). If the bank does not accept the punctuation, replace the dash with a space and remove the punctuation from the date of birth: 160071 18021969. Each bank transfer must also not exceed £50 sterling (i.e. approximately €58 at the current exchange rate).
Here are the IBAN and BIC to fill in:
IBAN: GB34 RBOS 8306 0821 1706 85
BIC: REVOGB21
