geert wilders prosecuted for hate speech

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    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.
 
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