BERLIN — A German federal court has rejected an appeal by far-right activist Ernst Zundel against his incitement conviction for denying the Holocaust, which resulted in a five-year prison sentence.

Zundel, who was deported from Canada in 2005, was convicted by a Mannheim court in February on 14 counts of incitement for years of anti-Semitic activities, including denying the Holocaust -- a crime in Germany -- in documents and on the Internet.

The court handed him the maximum five-year sentence.

The Federal Court of Justice said Monday it had thrown out Zundel's appeal in a Sept. 12 ruling.

In a statement, the court also said that judges in Mannheim were right not to deduct time Zundel served in pre-deportation custody in Canada from his sentence. It said that was not formal "pre-extradition detention for the criminal proceedings here.''

Zundel and his supporters have argued that he was a peaceful campaigner being denied his right to free speech.

As well as Canada, Zundel has in the past lived in the U.S. state of Tennessee.