Fifty Days in Gaol

Australian scholar Fredrick Töben was in jail even as his book was being published. He was handed a 3-months sentence in Australia for refusing to surrender his freedom of speech in return for a judicial slap on the wrist. Instead, this brave historian took the jail time. 50 Days in Gaol is Töben's assemblage of material covering the time he spent in England's Wandsworth Prison while the English and German governments wrangled over whether or not he could be extradited to Germany for discussing "the holocaust" and other taboo topics.

The Wimmera Mail-Times wrote on Dec. 19, 2008:

GOROKE man Fredrick Toben spent 50 days in a London prison... Police arrested him with a European Arrest Warrant issued by Germany in 2004. Dr Toben was on a plane that had travelled from Chicago to Heathrow Airport. It was a transfer flight, with 10 hours planned at Heathrow Airport before a plane trip to Dubai.

Dr Toben said the plane docked at Heathrow Airport at 11.30am on October 1. "There was an announcement, `Would Dr Toben please identify himself?' I stood up, I had my hand luggage," Dr Toben said. He walked, as directed by the announcement, to the plane's exit.

"Outside the exit there were four fellows... you could see you wouldn't argue with him.

"I was standing right there and I said 'let me make a record of this' and I pulled out my camcorder."

Dr Toben said two of the officers pulled his hands behind his back, believing he had a weapon. By 2pm on October 1 Dr Toben was in a police car travelling to the City of Westminster Magistrate's Court...

At a bail application hearing he argued that in Germany he could not defend himself against the charge of Holocaust denial. Dr Toben explained that if he talked about his opinion in court it exacerbated the charge and he could be jailed for five years. A defence team argued his case during the ensuing weeks.