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| Europe | |
| Wilders to fight Muslim hate charge | |
| 2009-02-04 | |
| Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders said Tuesday he would challenge a court order that he be put on trial for inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims. Wilders said he had appointed an advocate and intended to submit an application to the Supreme Court to overturn last month's judgment by the Amsterdam appeals court. "I have appointed the best advocate in the Netherlands to fight against this charge hanging over my head," he said in a statement on the website of his PVV party. Wilders, 45, is the leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV), which has nine seats in parliament. He is also the maker of a 17-minute film, "Fitna", which has been called "offensively anti-Islamic" by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The screening of the "Fitna" in the Netherlands prompted protests in much of the Muslim world including Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran and Pakistan. Wilders has called for the banning of the Quran in the Netherlands, calling it "fascist". In June, the prosecutor's office said "Fitna", though offensive to Muslims, did not give rise to a punishable offence. But the appeals court ruled that politicians, given their special responsibility, ought not to be permitted to make "statements which create hate and grief", and ordered the prosecution to put Wilders on trial. In April 2008 a son of the Netherlands' military chief was killed by a bomb in southern Afghanistan, in what Taliban militants said was direct retaliation to "Fitna." While in July, a Jordanian prosecutor charged Wilders with blasphemy and violation of publishing laws over his film judged anti-Islamic. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 killed by a bomb in southern Afghanistan, in direct retaliation to "Fitna." This action just proved Wilders point. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-02-04 13:01 |