Varg Vikernes' Court Date On Racial Hatred Charges Pushed to June 2014

BY Gregory AdamsPublished Oct 18, 2013

A French court has pushed the court date of Burzum leader Kristian "Varg" Vikernes over charges of inciting racial hatred and glorifying war crimes to June 3, 2014.

BBC [via Spin] reports that the push comes after Vikernes' lawyer requested additional time to prepare a defense for his client. Specifically, he wants to analyze a 910-page document France's police counterterrorism agency wrote on the musician.

It had previously been unclear when Vikernes would face a judge over "a breach of racism law." Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor's office, had noted back in July that the charges were laid over material published on Vikernes website described as "anti-Semitic and xenophobic." The musician will face up to five years in prison if convicted.

Back in July, the black metal musician and his wife, Marie Cachet, were arrested at their rural French farm home and put in jail for allegedly "plotting a massacre." A raid of the home yielded four shotguns purchased by Cachet, which she said were for a shooting club. The pair were later released after police were "unable to identify specific terrorist plans or terrorist targets."

Following the incident, Vikernes posted a lengthy missive on his website, vowing to sue French authorities over being arrested "for no good reason whatsoever," and asked fans to contribute funds to help his legal campaign.

Vikernes previously served 15 years in prison over the murder of Mayhem guitarist Øystein 'Euronymous' Aarseth in 1993, as well as the arson of three Norwegian churches. He was released in 2009.

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