http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=122082Dutch Parliament member Geert Wilders, whose film "Fitna" warns that Islam is threatening Western civilization, will be tried for a "hate crime" in the Netherlands.
Wilders previously was banned from Britain – a move later overturned in court – because of the subject of "Fitna," which features Quranic verses shown alongside images of the 9/11 terror attacks, the 2004 attack in Madrid and the 2005 attack in London.
The film calls on Muslims to remove "hate-preaching" verses from the text of their holy book.
Wilders, the leader of the Dutch Freedom Party, has been living under 24-hour protection from police since 2004. Al-Qaida has called for his murder.
According to a report from the Christian Institute, a ministry promoting Christianity in the United Kingdom, a court ruling this week removed the last obstacle to Wilders' trial, dismissing his objections to the prosecution.
The report said Wilders' lawyer argued his client should not be prosecuted for discriminatory statements since the Dutch supreme court last year found that insulting a religion did not automatically "imply an insult to its believers."
A lower court, however, concluded the provision did not mean Wilders could not be put on trial based on charges that originated from complaints filed by Dutch lawyer Gerard Spong on behalf of several clients.
The report said Wilders' remarks included suggesting Muhammad should be tarred and feathered and expelled from the Netherlands and declaring no Muslim should be allowed to enter the nation.
Prosecutors originally chose not to file any action against Wilders, the report said, citing their conclusion the comments were "in the context of societal debate." But the case was resurrected after a campaign urged people to complain to the courts.
Wilders has called the prosecution an "attack on freedom of speech."
"In this country, you are apparently allowed to criticize only if you are politically correct in how you express yourself," he has said.
Blogger Diana West wrote on Wilders' website, "It is not just the repression … of Islam that Wilders is outspoken about… He is equally if almost singularly outspoken about the political remedies necessary to halt the extension of Islam's law. Such remedies include stopping Islamic immigration and deporting agents of jihad. These are simple measures any democratic state that wished to repeal Islamization would take. … It is a political trial, then, in the worst sense, that we are about to witness. And it is about more than the future of freedom of speech. The trial of Geert Wilders is about the future of freedom."
Wilders' 17-minute documentary, "Fitna," meaning "strife," likened the Quran to Adolf Hitler's manifesto, "Mein Kampf."
Early critics had expressed fears the Wilders film would show a copy of the Quran being destroyed, but the ending offered a slight surprise.
As someone leafs through the Quran, a sound of tearing is heard.
"The sound you heard was from a page [being torn out] of the phone book. It is not up to me, but up to the Muslims themselves to tear the spiteful verses from the Quran," text on the screen reads. "Stop Islamization. Defend our freedom," the film concluded.
Wilders has received numerous death threats. His police protection has been in place because of the 2004 murder of Theo Van Gogh, the director of a film that exposed violence against women in Islamic societies.
Since the Van Gogh murder, the government of a nation proud of its liberal social attitudes has cut back on generous welfare programs to immigrants and made Dutch-language classes mandatory for newcomers.
Van Gogh's film, "Submission," was written by Wilders' former political ally, Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Societies dominated by Islam, in the meantime, have been working at the international level to ban any criticism of Islam globally.
A plan is being pushed by the 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to "protect" Islam from what they perceive as criticism.
The resolution, pending in one form or another since 1999, originally was called "Defamation of Islam." The name later was changed to "Defamation of Religions," but Islam remains the only faith protected by name in the proposal.
The proposal is based on the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam. The declaration states "that all rights are subject to Shariah law and makes Shariah law the only source of reference for human rights."
However, the latest vote on the nonbinding proposal came just weeks ago at the U.N. and showed falling support, with 80 votes in favor of the proposal, 61 against and 42 abstentions. A year ago there were 86 yes votes, and two years ago the support came from 108 votes.
Topic: Dutch lawmaker ordered to 'hate crime' trial (Read 3641 times)