GEERT WILDERS PROSECUTED FOR HATE SPEECH

Dutch member of parliament Geert Wilders of the populist PVV party is to be charged with hate speech and inciting discrimination, the appeals court in Amsterdam ruled last Wednesday

Last year the public prosecutor decided not to prosecute Wilders for his anti-Islamic statements, which include calling the Quran a fascist book and comparing it to Hilter's Mein Kampf. Wilders made headlines around the world in March 2008 with his film Fitna, which juxtaposed Quranic verses against a background of violent film clips and images of terrorism by Islamic radicals.

Dozens of organisations and individuals in the Netherlands wanted to bring charges against the politician, but the prosecutor decided that his remarks were painful for Muslims - but not criminal. The Amsterdam court disagreed and found that there was a case of inciting hatred to answer for, both because of the content of Wilders' remarks and the way in which they were presented. The judges said they had weighed Wilders' anti-Islam rhetoric against his right to free speech, and ruled he had gone beyond the normal leeway granted to politicians. read more (nrc.nl)

WORLDWIDE REACTIONS TO WILDERS PROSECUTION read more (radionetherlands.nll)
WILDERS PROSECUTED FOR INCITING HATRED read more (expatica.nl)
FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN THE DOCK read more (radionetherlands.nll)
WILDERS' NEVER-ENDING STORY read more (nrc.nl)
WILDERS TO BE PROSECUTED read more (expatica.nl)

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January 26, 2009