Germany’s supreme court denied the appeal of German-born Dr.
Fredrick Töben who operated the Adelaide Institute web site and
printed leaflets denying that millions of Jews died during World
War Two. He had originally been sentenced to 10 months in prison
and appealed on the grounds that, because his internet material was
“printed” outside Germany, it should not be subject to German
legislation.
The Federal Court judges disagreed and ruled that the country’s
anti-Nazism laws apply to material stored on servers outside
Germany that is accessible to German internet users.
On his web site, Töben makes light of the decision:
“Due to Germany´s trespass on Australia´s
sovereignty (finding Dr Töben guilty under German law for things he
legally did in Australia, as an Australian) all German visitors to
Australia will now be arrested and gaoled for having driven on the
wrong side of the road whilst in Germany!”
Australia does not have anti-revisionist laws and it is unlikely
that any extradition would take place, so Töben is not expected to
serve any time in prison. Töben had originally been arrested when
he approached a German state prosecutor to discuss his allegations
denying the holocaust.
Last month, Yahoo! was ordered to block access by French
nationals to auction pages on yahoo.com that sold Nazi memorabilia
which is contrary to French law though not US law. Also, German
prosecutors are investigating Yahoo! over the suspected illegal
auction of copies of Hitler's manifesto "Mein Kampf."
