Supporters of Holocaust denier Vincent Reynouard are banding together to send the Frenchman money and letters of encouragement to his Edinburgh prison cell, The Herald can reveal.
The 53-year old was remanded in custody at HMP Edinburgh following a hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last week ahead of an extradition hearing in February.
Reynouard was arrested in Anstruther, Fife, on Thursday, November 10, in a joint operation involving Scottish and French authorities.
He had been the subject of a two-year search for his whereabouts led by France’s Central Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes, with the French press claiming that he had spent his time in Scotland working as a private tutor under a false identity.
READ MORE: Why a Holocaust denier ended up living quietly in an East Neuk village
Since his arrest, the hashtags #LibertePourReynouard and #JeSuisVincent have appeared on Twitter, as his supporters in his native France attempt to encourage others to assist him financially and write letters to him addressed to his Edinburgh jail cell.
One tweet, seen by The Herald, lists the address of HMP Edinburgh, where Reynouard is being held, alongside his cell number.
It also details how supporters can send money to him via the Scottish Prison Service Prisoner Funds Central, an online tool which enables funds to be sent to “friends and loved ones who are currently in custody” in Scotland.
The tweet reads: “To help Vincent financially, which he really needs right now, there are two ways. Pounds sterling can be sent directly to him in cash at the postal address indicated above, but the limit must not exceed 50 pounds sterling for each transaction.”
The details have also been included in an article titled “All about Vincent Reynouard!” by French far-right website Jeune Nation, named after French nationalist and neo-fascist far-right movement that was founded in 1949.
Reynouard was convicted under anti-Nazi laws across the Channel, where he was given a four-month jail term in November 2020 and a further six months in January 2021.
Holocaust denial has been a criminal offence in France since 1990, and Reynouard has been convicted on numerous occasions. He was given a four-month jail term in November 2020 and a further six months in January 2021.
His latest conviction was in relation to a series of anti-semitic posts on social media.
The Frenchman, writing on far-right platform Gab this year, claimed he was able to avoid having to surrender to the authorities, thanks to the steady stream of donations he had received from his supporters, as well as the income he received from his few hours a week working as an online maths tutor.
He wrote that his “very simple life in a small room” consisted of “creating videos, cycling, reading and meditating” while eating “the same food every day (fresh vegetables and Weetabix)” financed entirely by donations from his followers on the right-wing platform.
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: “We don’t comment on individuals in our care. A Prisoner Funds Account, which is available in each establishment, holds funds, which SPS are responsible for, on behalf of prisoners, including personal cash, wages, and PIN phone balances.
“Every individual in our care has access to this system, whereby money can be transferred in by friends and family to be used to purchase PIN phone top-ups, sundry items, and canteen products.
“One method of paying funds into a prisoner’s local account is by bank transfer, for which an online reference generator is used. Guidance on this is available on the SPS website, including the upper limit of £50 per transfer.
“In addition to this, local limits may also be set for cash handed in, or sent in, at the discretion of the Governor of each establishment. Transactions can also be monitored for security purposes where intelligence deems appropriate.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel