Austrialian Holocaust-denier reportedly arrested in Germany

SYDNEY, April 13 (JTA) — An Australian resident who maintains a Web site devoted to promoting Holocaust-denial and other anti-Semitic slurs has been arrested in Germany and charged with criminal incitement, according to media releases issued by his colleagues. Fredrick Toben was visiting the southwestern German city of Mannheim when he was reportedly arrested because of the content of his Adelaide Institute Internet site, which can be accessed in Germany, where Holocaust-denial is a punishable crime. Toben had published an article on his Web site saying he was going to Germany to “challenge the German ban on denying the Nazi genocide of Jews.” Toben had previously published material decrying German prosecutions of U.S. citizens who had sent banned neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic materials into Germany. If Toben is found guilty, he could be imprisoned for up to five years or receive a fine. In May 1996, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the umbrella organization of Australian Jewish groups, filed a complaint against Toben for using his Web site to incite racial hatred, a crime under the country’s racial discrimination laws. A hearing on this complaint was held last year, and Australian officials are expected to issue a ruling soon.