Now Toben faces a Contempt case in Australia - brought by Jewish lobby!

[MikeWB]

Now Toben faces a Contempt case in Australia - brought by Jewish lobby

Green light for contempt case as Germany drops Toben bid

http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=6660

Australian Jewish News
November 27, 2008

PETER KOHN

WITH German authorities pausing in their bid to bring Fredrick Toben to trial on criminal charges, the focus has swung back to a two-year-old Australian contempt case against the globetrotting Holocaust denier.

Prosecutors in Germany have pulled the plug on their current attempt to bring the Adelaide man to court in their country, where Holocaust denial is classified as a crime, but say they will continue to pursue him.

State prosecutor for the district of Mannheim, Andreas Grossmann, said this week a British court's refusal to extradite Toben had halted the German legal campaign for the moment.

"England will not extradite him, but we will continue to attempt to have him arrested in other countries," he said.

Meanwhile, Toben has fled Britain and his lawyer told media he was taking a holiday, before returning to Australia.

Toben's travels took him to Iran in 2006, where he spoke at a conference of Holocaust deniers.

He was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport on October 1, on a European Union warrant that specified his extradition to Germany but was later freed on bail. Unlike Germany, Britain does not regard Holocaust denial as a criminal offence.

The German prosecution had based its case on allegations that Toben had published material denying the Holocaust on his website from 2000 to 2004.

After initially signalling an appeal against a ruling by Westminster Magistrates Court that the warrant contained only "sparse" details of Toben's alleged offences, the German prosecutors decided not to proceed.

Last week's change of strategy by German lawyers has shifted the international spotlight to Australia, where Toben is facing a contempt hearing in the Federal Court.

He is accused of flouting a 2002 ruling by that court, that he take down and not replace Holocaust denial content posted on his Adelaide Institute website.

The contempt case was launched two years ago by Jeremy Jones who was president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry in 2002 when he won the initial proceeding against Toben in the Federal Court.

The Australian court case, judged on Australian law, is unlikely to be affected by the dropping of the German case.

Now that the European case appears to have been abandoned, at least for the moment, it has cleared away legal hurdles that may have delayed the Federal Court in imposing a prison sentence as part of any penalty it may prescribe for Toben.

If Toben had been jailed in Germany, he might not have been able to give evidence to the Federal Court relating to sentencing.

[joeblow]

You know what? I've changed my evil ways, even though this article comes from the Australian JEWISH News, I'm not going to say the Jews want to arrest him. Even though the German prosecuter is a Jew, no we can't say the Jews want to arrest him. Even though the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry tried to jail him before, don't you dare say that the Jews want to arrest him.

I want to thank everyone at ConCen who woke me up, I feel safer now, not because the Jews would ever try to charge me, because they have no power.

[kolnidre]

I'm with you, Blowman. Jews and power? There's just no there there. Their lobbies are just there so they can get together with like-minded folks and discuss their humanitarian values.

I find it interesting that the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry has the very un-kosher sounding name of Jeremy Jones.