At least Chris Huhne is standing for free speech
Dear Chris Huhne,
Since losing the Lib Dem leadership contest, you have settled into an effective role as Home Affairs spokesman for the party and fought hard for civil liberties. Admittedly this rarely gains you a frontpage slot but it is commendable nonetheless. I am delighted to see that this morning you are standing up for free speech and common sense when everyone else around you is hiding in the shadows over the controversial European arrest warrants.
Away from the public eye, Dr Fredrick Toben was arrested at Heathrow on Wednesday at the request of the German government for being a Holocaust denier. This is outrageous and highlights the alarming weaknesses in European Arrest Warrants. Thank you for writing to Jacqui Smith and Jack Straw about this case and urging them to lobby Brussels to address the “rough edges” in this legislation and I firmly support your call for Dr Toben’s case to be dropped as this ridiculous legislation wrongly allows people to be arrested in Britain for actions which do not breach British law. Furthermore, the European Arrest Warrant was designed in a post-9/11 world to allow rapid extraditions from one country to another if a person is accused of an offence within a “core” list, including murder, terrorism, racism or xenophobia – even though many of the offences on this list are handled differently by EU member states. You summed it up quite beautifully when you said that “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.” You might want to mention that to Labour as well.
The case gets even more bizarre when one considers the fine details. The arrest warrant for Dr Toben 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.” The important point here is that Dr Toben used his Australian-based webiste to deny that the Holocaust took place. How on earth can we consider extraditing a German from the UK for remarks he made on an Australian website? If the German government feels that he broke the law then by all means remove his website but evidently you and I share the view that this attack on freedom of speech is not covered by the European Arrest Warrants – and even if it was, I’d still oppose the extradition. Dr Toben, a 64-year-old German academic, is not a terrorist, he is not a danger to anyone, he is just an idiot who writes complete rubbish about the Holocaust and should therefore be completely ignored. Germany and Austria may have decided that denying the Holocaust is a crime (Dr Toben could face up to five years’ imprisonment if convicted) but I will never follow suit and I suspect you would not either.
I may think someone is a moron, Dr Toben being a wonderful example for the views that he holds. However, when he stated that he was the victim of “legal persecution” and that ”it’s a witch trial mentality in Germany concerning this matter”, I can’t help but agree with him. As far as I can see, there are no grounds for his extradition and I would be very grateful if you could keep up the pressure on Smith and Straw because Labour’s desire to pander to the whims of anyone who doesn’t like what happens in this country is well documented.
Best wishes,
A.Tory
Witanagemot Blogs
Well said. It’s nothing short of an outrage that only one MP should come out against this decision.
But given that he was in favour of the bill in the first place….
Julia, your political geekiness knows no bounds.
From reading through what Huhne was saying, it seems that he was in favour of the legislation for tackling terrorism and human trafficking but today he admits that the “rough edges” needs to be ironed out to make sure free speech is not included in the list of offences for which an individual can be extradited.
Heh. It’s amazing what you can find on Google, isn’t it…?
The problem is, people who enthusiatically support illiberal laws designed to ‘go get the bad guys’ always fail to see what might happen if the people who get to use those laws disagree with them on who the ‘bad guys’ actually are.
Much the same as the religious tolerance laws may have sprung from good intentions, yet are now being put to the use of those who wish to stifle legitimate criticism of their religion.
It’s hard to feel sorry for Huhne’s ‘ooopsie!’ situation when anyone with an ounce of common sense could see it coming. You wonder why Huhne couldn’t…
I share your views.
While others gloated at Nick Griffin’s arrest, I was dismayed, realising that he’d be able to make himself into a martyr & generally get far more attention than he is worth.
I have likewise always opposed these religious “hatred” laws & that mentality, as they allow scum like George Galloway to strut around calling for the persecution of people like Salman Rushdie, were to a large extent behind the mealy-mouthed behaviour over these cartoons, & general student union behaviour.
It is time to take a stand against all irrationalism, obscurantism, racism, in which I include the BNP & holocaust deniers too, by addressing legitimate criticisms such as concerns over housing & employment, the underachievement of many people due to deprivation (a large proportion of whom are white), & at the same time holding a relentless stand in favour of secularism & the virtues of a rational debate in which truth will prevail (because if you don’t think this, it’s time to stop bothering altogether).
We have got to be consistent in our stand that secular liberal democracy based on rationalism & free speech & enquiry is best, that we will change our minds as the facts change but not because of any pre-conceived ideology.
You will not defeat these people by arresting & persecuting them, but by having values which are superior to theirs & the courage to stand up for them in an open forum.
The principle of an EU wide warrent for crimes that are crimes in all countries (kidnap, rape, murder, terrorism, theft, fraud, etc) makes sense, and I can see why it warranted support in the first place. Bu this law does need ammending and I am pleased Chris Huhne has the guts to admit his error.
How about an apology from Dave and those Tories who labelled Charles Kennedy as Charlie Chamberlain ?
I wouldn’t countenance that particular German and Austrian law here. It’s also why I don’t like some of our own laws aimed at curtailing a few Islamic nutters. But I’ve lived in Germany and I was convinced by the arguments of my German and Austrian friends that those laws are needed in those two countries. So ultimately in the area of cross border co-operation do we respect the laws of other countries? I have to say yes. We should enforce arrest warrants because anything else would be defying the rule of law IMO. If there is a case to be made about wider judicial oversight – and there probably is – I’d be happy to see the arrest warrants modified to reflect that. Much as I’d like to see the UK-US extradition treaty re-impose wider judicial oversight.
Nich, need a reference for that before I can comment on it, suffice to say that I support civil liberties a hell of a lot more than the Conservatives seem to.
Doug, I find it hard to believe that even Germany and Austria need laws on denying the Holocaust – this is a matter of principle, not a political toy. As I understand it, European Arrest Warrants do not cover this law so the extradition is totally unjustified.
Am in broad agreement with you Letters and Asquith on this one….Huhne undoubtably did the right thing on this one and kudos to him for it….
Democracy is there mostly for those we disagree with and the moment we forget that something gets lost…