[JURIST] An appeals court in Austria [JURIST news archive] Wednesday ordered the release of British historian David Irving [BBC profile, personal website], who was sentenced to three years in jail [JURIST report] in February for three counts of denying the Holocaust [BBC backgrounder] in two speeches he delivered in Austria 1989. Irving will serve out the rest of his sentence on probation after having already spent 13 months in jail. The court said it took into consideration the fact that Irving no longer denies the Holocaust and the fact that the statements were made several years ago.

Irving was arrested in Austria [JURIST report] in November 2005 based on a 1989 warrant executed under Austrian laws that make Holocaust denial a crime. Austrian prosecutors subsequently filed charges [JURIST report] against Irving. He pleaded guilty [JURIST report] at a one-day trial. AFP has more.