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Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 493937 United States 10/05/2008 04:32 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Courts 'say no to arrest warrant' The British courts should refuse to act on a European arrest warrant requesting the extradition to Germany of a man accused of Holocaust denial, a senior politician said. Australian citizen Frederick Toben was arrested on Wednesday at Heathrow, en route from the United States to Dubai, and has been remanded in custody awaiting an extradition hearing on October 17. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said that individuals should not be handed over to courts abroad for Holocaust denial, which is not a crime in the UK and raised issues of freedom of speech. /ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jt9Rq_LJ5wHhWL6kVgLz8MFcnSeA ` |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 493937 United States 10/05/2008 04:39 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Holocaust denier Dr Fredrick Toben should not be extradited, says Liberal Democrat MP Germany's attempts to have a Holocaust denier extradited from Britain should be rebuffed, a senior MP has said. By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 10:35AM BST 05 Oct 2008 In comments which will reignite a row over controversial European Arrest Warrants, Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said that the arrest of Dr Fredrick Toben at Heathrow on Wednesday conflicted with Britain's tradition of free speech. Mr Huhne said the affair exposed weaknesses in the system and called on the Government to lead a campaign to reform it. He is writing to Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, and Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, urging them to lobby Brussels for a rewrite of what he described as "rough edges" in the treaty which underpins the warranges. He called for Dr Toben's case to be dropped and said the case demonstrated that the legislation wrongly allowed people to be arrested for actions which do not breach British law. Dr Toben, a 64-year-old German academic, has used his Australian-based webiste to deny that the Holocaust took place on the scale accepted by mainstream historians. It is not a crime to express such opinions in the UK, although to do so in Germany and Austria is a specific offence. The academic, who has now taken Australian nationality, is wanted by a district court in Mannheim, Germany, for posting information of an "anti-Semitic or revisionist nature" on the internet from 2002 onwards. He could face up to five years' imprisonment if convicted. Mr Huhne said: "I think the time has come to ensure that the European Arrest Warrant's scope is effective. Some of the sloppy drafting does need to be tightened up. It was rushed through without proper thought as a knee-jerk reaction to terrorist offences. "The case with Dr Toben exposes a problem in terms of freedom of speech and I come to this as a good, classic liberal. "It is a fundamental part of our system that we believe in freedom of speech and, like Voltaire, I may disparage what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." The European Arrest Warrant allows swift and uncomplicated extradition from one country to another if a person is accused of an offence within a "core" list, including murder and terrorism. The list also includes racism or xenophobia, offences which are handled differently by EU member states. "I don't think it is appropriate for a member state to be pursuing an arrest warrant when it's not in a core category like that," said Mr Huhne, a former member of the European Parliament. "I think it will be sensible for the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice to re-engage with this at European level to see if we can remove some of the rough edges." Dr Toben attended a conference in Tehran in 2006 which questioned whether the Holocaust took place. In 1999 he was convicted by a German court for breaching the country's Holocaust laws and imprisoned for nine months. Appearing before City of Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday, Dr Toben said he did not consent to being extradited to Germany. Claiming he was the victim of "legal persecution" he said: "It's a witch trial mentality in Germany concerning this matter, which is not the case in England yet. "I beg you to let me leave the country, to kick me out, I promise never to return." The arrest warrant was rushed in as part of the response to the September 11 terror attacks. When the legislation went through Parliament, the then-Home Office minister Lord Filkin ( a jew )pledged that no-one would be extradited for conduct that was legal in Britain, if it took place in this country. It is the German court's decision to pursue Dr Toben for comments made online while outside German territory which have led to the unusual circumstances of Dr Toben's arrest, and his remand in custody until Friday. Indicating that he hoped to win cross-party support for a bid to reform the warrant system, Mr Huhne said: "I am absolutely and squarely against anti-Semitism. "I am firmly anti-racist and I do not come at this in any way designed to undermine the Jewish community." The arrest warrant, executed by the Metropolitan Police as Dr Toben landed at Heathrow while travelling from the US to Dubai, alleges: "From 2002 to this day the worldwide, internet publication of an anti-Semitic and/or revisionist nature deliberately contrary to historical truth, the said publications deny, approve or play down above all the mass murder of the Jews, planned and implemented, by the National Socialist rulers. The defender is committing the act in Australia, Germany and in other countries." end all truth is only as the controllers say is truth( ed.) www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/liberaldemocrats/3135276/Holocaust-denier-Dr-Fredrick-Toben-should-not-be-extradited-says-Liberal-Democrat-MP.html ` |