Court: Dutch lawmaker is entitled to make
anti-Quran statements
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – A Dutch lawmaker who sparked protests
across the Muslim world with a film criticizing the Quran is
entitled to express his anti-Islamic views, a court ruled Monday,
rejecting a request to muzzle him.
The court ruled that the views expressed by right-wing
legislator Geert Wilders do not exceed the legal boundaries against
inciting hatred or violence.
<!---------- BEGIN BIGBOXAD ---------->
<!---------- END BIGBOXAD ---------->The Netherlands
Islamic Federation withdrew its petition to ban Wilders' film
“Fitna” after it appeared on the Internet March 27, the day before
the case was heard in a heavily guarded courtroom.
The movie, which links terror attacks by Muslim extremists with
texts from Islam's holy book, triggered angry street protests in
Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as calls in other
countries to boycott Dutch goods.
The federation asked The Hague District Court to order Wilders
to stop making statements “in writing, on film or spoken” that are
deemed insulting to Muslims, and to apologize for past statements.
Wilders has called the Quran a fascist book and compared it to
Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf.”
In a written judgment published Monday, the court said Wilders'
right to free speech and role as a politician allow him to voice
his criticisms of radical Islam and the Quran.
As a lawmaker, Wilders “must be able to – sometimes in sharp
terms – express his opinions,” the ruling said. “In this context,
it cannot be said that (Wilders') statements – even though
provocative – are an incitement to hate or violence against
Muslims.”
Wilders welcomed the ruling.
“I always believed that within the context of political debate
... I should be allowed to say what my opinion is, which is that I
see the danger and threat of Islam to our country and the West,” he
told The Associated Press.
“As a politician, you have to be able to say what you think,” he
said.
In his film, Wilders couples verses from the Quran with images
of the terror attacks on New York, Madrid and elsewhere, and shows
footage of imams saying Islam should dominate the world.
The movie also says it is up to Muslims to “tear out the hateful
verses from the Quran.”
Despite protests in the Muslim world, there was no violent
backlash in the Netherlands, where Wilders' anti-Islam views are
widely known.
Wilders has often warned of what he calls the growing
“Islamization” of the Netherlands, where Muslims make up about
850,000 of the 16 million population.
Wilders slightly modified “Fitna” after he was threatened with
possible legal action for copyright violation for using a cartoon
by a Danish artist who portrayed Islam's prophet wearing a
bomb-shaped turban.
“Fitna,” which in Arabic means “strife,” now starts and ends
with a different cartoon portraying a bearded man in a turban
carrying a globe, with a lit fuse on his shoulder.
