A German prosecutor asked a court on Friday to sentence former Canadian resident Ernst Zundel to five years in prison for his persistent denial of the Holocaust through a dozen writings and a high-profile website.

In his closing arguments in court in Mannheim, prosecutor Andreas Grossmann called Zundel a "political con man" from whom the German people must be protected, citing Zundel's writings arguing that millions of Jews did not die at the hands of the Nazis.

Ernst Zundel in 2005.

Zundel, 66, is charged with 14 counts of incitement for a series of pamphlets, and for disseminating far-right and anti-Semitic propaganda through his website, according to the indictment.

The German-born Zundel, who emigrated to Canada in 1958 and lived in Toronto and Montreal until 2001, has been on trial since November on charges of years of anti-Semitic activities, including denying the Holocaust, in documents and on the internet.

Zundel, who was deported from Canada in 2005 and has also lived in Tennessee, has been standing trial since November 2005. A previous trial collapsed over a dispute with Zundel's far-right lawyer.

It was not immediately clear when the defence would make its closing arguments.

Denying the Holocaust is a crime in Germany and is punishable by three months to five years in prison.