Dutch court to prosecute criticism of Islam

They won't prosecute Muslim antisemites but they will prosecute those who criticize Muslim antisemites. The Netherlands is sick to the core.

"A Dutch court has ordered prosecutors to put a right-wing politician on trial for making anti-Islamic statements. Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders made a controversial film last year equating Islam with violence and has likened the Koran to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

"In a democratic system, hate speech is considered so serious that it is in the general interest to... draw a clear line," the court in Amsterdam said.

Mr Wilders said the judgement was an "attack on the freedom of expression". "Participation in the public debate has become a dangerous activity. If you give your opinion, you risk being prosecuted," he said. Not only he, but all Dutch citizens opposed to the "Islamisation" of their country would be on trial, Mr Wilders warned. "Who will stand up for our culture if I am silenced?" he added.

The three judges said that they had weighed Mr Wilders's "one-sided generalisations" against his right to free speech, and ruled that he had gone beyond the normal leeway granted to politicians.

Source

If even a prominent politician is not free to speak out, what hope is there for the little guy?

There could however be a silver lining here. Everything Wilders said is true -- and proving that in court could be a real wake-up for the Dutch. Wilders may even have had that in mind from the beginning.

Posted by John Ray.