Geert Wilders prosecuted for hate speech Published: 21 January 2009 15:03 | Changed: 22 January 2009 14:14 NRC Handelsblad http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2126874.ece/Geert_Wilders_pros...
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 on 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.
The court ruled that Wilders had personally insulted Muslim believers by attacking the symbols of Islam. The court found that many of Wilders' comments offensive because they "injure Muslims in their religious dignity." About Fitna the court said it was "one-sided, extremely generalising rhetoric to radical effect, using relentless repetition and increasing intensity."
Prosecution of Wilders is also in the public interest, the court ruled, because in a democratic legal system a clear line about hate speech in the public debate needs to be drawn.
Wilders said he was shaken by the court's decision. "I did not expect this, particularly as the prosecutor himself did not want to bring charges." Wilders called the decision "an attack on freedom of speech." He said, "This is a black day for everyone who has voted for me and for everyone who thinks you are allowed to criticise Islam. In this country, you are apparently allowed to criticise only if you are politically correct in how you express yourself."
Wilders expects that the prosecution case against him will be acquitted. "This will only leads to long legal procedures. And it costs a lot of money, which I do not have."
Gerard Spong, a prominent lawyer who joined Islamic groups in pushing for Wilders' prosecution, welcomed the decision. "This is a happy day for all followers of Islam who do not want to be tossed on the garbage dump of Nazism," Spong told reporters in Amsterdam.
