Islam critic Geert Wilders goes on trial in Netherlands

Amsterdam - The trial of Dutch member of parliament and Islam critic Geert Wilders for discrimination and incitement to hatred opened in an Amsterdam court on Wednesday. The court is to decide whether the leader of the liberal-rightist Freedom Party PVV violated Dutch law by calling the Koran a "fascist book" and Islam a "backward culture."

At the start of proceedings, the presiding judge said it had been "suggested" that the court had already convicted Wilders before its first hearings. He would therefore "like to emphasize that only after the last word in these hearings has been said, the court will deliberate about its decision."

In his opening statement, Wilders' lawyer Bram Moskowicz questioned why the trial was taking place in Amsterdam rather than in The Hague, where his client works.

Most of the complaints filed against Wilders since 2006 were related to remarks he made as a lawmaker in the Hague-based parliament, he said.

Moskowicz also argued that Wilders' remarks about Islam were made only in the context of his work as a lawmaker, and that he never spoke "a titre personnel," or in his personal capacity.

Prosecutors claim Wilders' 16-minute internet video Fitna, released in March 2008, incites people to hatred against Muslims. The film warns against the spread of radical Islam and the alleged "Islamization" of the Netherlands.

Wilders faces a maximum of 16 months imprisonment or a fine of 10,000 euros (14,000 dollars) if convicted on all the charges.

Almost 6 per cent of the Netherlands' 16.5 million inhabitants are Muslim.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/304773,islam-critic-geert-wilders-goes-on-trial-in-netherlands.html.