PrairiePundit

NY Times: Geert Wilders, the fiery right-wing Dutch politician, was acquitted on Thursday of hate speech charges by an Amsterdam court, which found that his inflammatory comments were protected by rules governing discourse in a free society. Mr. Wilders, 47, had faced a possible one-year prison sentence on five charges of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims. He has become an important force in Dutch politics, making provocative statements including comparing the Koran with “Mein Kampf” and calling for an end to Muslim immigration. Mr. Wilders also made a short film, “Fitna,” in 2008 portraying Islam as inherently violent, and joined Newt Gingrich in New York last August to oppose the building of a mosque near the World Trade Center. But the presiding judge of the Amsterdam District Court, Marcel van Oosten, found that Mr. Wilders’ actions, while offensive, were protected speech. In dismissing the charges, the judge described some of Mr. Wilders’s comments as “r...

BBC: Dutch prosecutors have recommended acquitting leading anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders on all five charges of hate speech. They said his comments had targeted Islam, not Muslims, and he had the right to comment on social issues. The trial will continue next week and judges may still disagree with the prosecution and convict Mr Wilders. ... "Criticism [of religion] is allowed," Ms van Roessel told the Amsterdam district court. "It would be hurtful to many Muslims when Wilders calls for a ban on the Koran but the feelings of this group can play no role in determining the facts of the case." Mr Velleman told the court that most of the politician's remarks seemed to have targeted Islam as an ideology rather than singling out Muslims for abuse. ... While I think this is a correct interpretation of the facts, the fact is that the charges never should have been brought and those on the appeals court insisting that the case be brought are just fl...

Image via Wikipedia Mark Tapscott: Dutch political leader Geert Wilder is on trial for exercising a right most Americans take for granted - the right to speak our minds on any topic whatsoever and to say whatever you and I choose to say on that topic, regardless of how inflammatory, idiotic, or brilliant it might seem to anybody else. Others, too, have the right to point out how inflammatory, idiotic or brilliant they might find any of our comments. In America, we have confidence that when everybody gets to speak their mind, the truth will ultimately prevail. It is a cornerstone constitutional right of the American republic, along with freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press. These rights are the essence of the Western tradition of individual liberty, freedom of thought, and conscience. But there are no such rights in Islamic countries. And radical Jihadists are pushing to extinguish rights like freedom of speech that are intrinsic to Western civilizat...

Guardian: Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Freedom party and one of Europe's leading Islam-baiters, went on trial today charged with hate speech and inciting racism, but the case was swiftly engulfed by uncertainty after a challenge over alleged judges' bias. The opening of the trial, expected to last a month in Amsterdam, followed a successful weekend for the maverick Dutch politician, with his influence over a new rightwing government confirmed and a campaign speech in Germany aimed at establishing a trans-national European movement against Muslim immigration. Wilders entered the dock amid heavy security and promptly affirmed his commitment to free speech , dismissing the charges against him while not entering a plea. He faces a hefty fine or a year in jail if found guilty on five charges of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims and insulting their religion for likening, as he routinely does, the Qur'an to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and describin...

Independent: ... The 46-year-old Freedom Party leader said: "Islamism and democracy are incompatible. "The more Islamism we have, the more freedom we will lose and this is something worth fighting for." He also called for an end to immigration to Europe from Islamic countries but said Muslims who agreed to obey the law of the land would be welcome to stay. He said: "To Muslims who do stay, I would say 'Follow our laws and you are welcome to stay'." And he pledged that, if elected Dutch Prime Minister, he would seek to introduce a "first amendment" guaranteeing freedom of speech. "The right of freedom of speech is especially to listen to someone who is saying something you don't want to hear," he said. The Freedom Party is expected to do well in the forthcoming Dutch general election. Last year it came second in the country's European elections and recently topped the poll in local...

Reuters: Dutch anti-Islamist leader Geert Wilders scored major gains in local authority polls Thursday, making him a serious challenger for power in a June national election, preliminary results showed. In the first test of public opinion since the collapse of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's coalition government last month, Wilders's Freedom Party (PVV) led in the city of Almere and was second in The Hague . The results came on top of an opinion poll showing that the PVV, which campaigns against Muslim immigration as its main platform, would win the most seats -- 27 in the 150-member Dutch parliament -- in the June 9 election. That would make it tough for Balkenende's Christian Democrats, projected to win one seat less, to forge a strong coalition without Wilders. Months of talks between parties, and the resulting policy vacuum, could threaten a fragile economic recovery and cast doubt on the scope of planned bud...

Times: Geert Wilders, the Dutch far-Right MP, has demanded that his race hate trial should hear evidence from the fanatic who used the Koran to justify killing the director of an anti-Islamic film. It marked an incendiary opening to the landmark case that has divided the Netherlands over the limits of freedom. Mr Wilders, 46, who is accused of incitement and discrimination, asked for 18 witnesses to be called in his defence, including Mohammed Bouyeri, the man who stabbed and shot Theo Van Gogh in an Amsterdam street in 2004. The Van Gogh murder left a deep scar on the national conscience. It helped to change the mood of tolerance of Islam, and boosted Mr Wilders’s popularity. Mr Wilders, whose Party for Freedom came second in the European elections last summer, faces a 70-page charge sheet covering five counts of breaking Dutch law in more than 100 public statements — for example, by likening the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf and calling for an end to the “Islamic inv...