Dutch anti-Islam MP hate speech trial opens

AMSTERDAM: The hate speech trial of Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, set to become a shadow partner of the next coalition government, opened in Amsterdam on Monday.

The controversial politician with his signature shock of dyed-blonde hair risks up to a year in jail or a 7,600-euro ($10,000) fine for calling Islam “fascist” and likening the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
The hearing in Amsterdam was opened by presiding judge Jan Moors shortly after 9:00 am (0700 GMT) with Wilders seated in the front row of the courtroom next to his advocate Bram Moszkovicz.

Religious offence

Wilders, 47, is charged with five counts of giving religious offence to Muslims and inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims and people of non-Western immigrant origin, particularly Moroccans.
In comments made between October 2006 and March 2008 in Dutch newspapers and on Internet forums, prosecutors say that Wilders described Islam as “the sick ideology of Allah and Mohammed” and its holy book as “the Mein Kampf of a religion that seeks to eliminate others”.
Among the exhibits is Wilders’ 17-minute film, “Fitna”, alleged to depict Islam as a force bent on destroying the West and whose screening in the Netherlands in 2008 prompted protests in much of the Muslim world.
Wilders was refused entry to Britain last year, after being invited to show his film in the House of Lords.
Wilders arrived at the Amsterdam district court minutes before the start of the hearing.
About a dozen protesters had gathered outside the court building with a large placard that blames Wilders for “division and polarization”, as a strong contingent of police, some in riot gear, kept watch.
“The different colors of our society is what makes us rich, but that is being threatened by Mr Wilders,” Mustafa Ayranci, one of the group’s organizers and head of the Turkish labor association, told AFP.
The judgment is expected on Nov. 4.

Demonstrations

Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) came third in June 9 elections with 24 seats out of 150 in the Dutch lower house of parliament.
Under a coalition deal being finalized, his PVV will provide a minority cabinet of the Christian Democrats and liberals with the majority they need to pass decisions through parliament in return for a voice in policy formation.
The target of death threats, Wilders has 24-hour state-sponsored protection while pursuing his mission to “stop the Islamisation of the Netherlands”.
He campaigns for a stop to Muslim immigration, banning the construction of new mosques, and a tax on headscarves.
In Berlin on Saturday, more than 100 people demonstrated against his presence to give a speech at the invitation of a right-wing German politician.
In June 2008, the Dutch prosecution service dismissed dozens of complaints against Wilders from around the country, citing his right to freedom of speech.
But appeals judges ordered in January 2009 that he stand trial as his utterances amounted to “sowing hatred” and exceeded the boundaries of political debate.

Source: Agencies