Neo-Nazi thesis back on university shelves

A thesis examining the link between neo-Nazi and satanic beliefs in New Zealand has been returned to the shelves of Waikato University's library.

The author of the thesis, Roel van Leeuwen, won class honours for his work, entitled Dreamers of the Dark: Kerry Bolton and the Order of the Left Hand Path; a Case-study of a Satanic/Neo Nazi Synthesis.

However, Kerry Bolton, former secretary of the extreme-right organisation National Front and a subject of the thesis, complained to the university's vice-chancellor and on a website called the thesis libellous and "little more than a malicious personal smear".

It was taken off the shelves in October last year.

Waikato University Vice Chancellor Roy Crawford said an internal review found that the supervision and assessment of the thesis were sound, Radio New Zealand reported.

He said the university was a place of academic rigour which did not shy away from tackling controversial research and the matter was now closed.

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