Monday, October 4, 2010

Free Speech or Hate Crimes in Netherlands

The differences between America and Netherlands have been clearly outlined in the court case of Geert Wilders. Wilders is a politician who is a leader of the Party for Freedom, a Dutch far right nationalist party and third largest opposition party, and faces up to a year in prison if convicted for inciting "hatred and discrimination against Muslims." In an editorial Wilders compared the Koran to Mein Kampf, and later released a film that "depicted violence against women, beheadings, and the aftermath of terrorist attacks, and then compared those images to verses from the Koran." Wilders only defense in court has been "I have said what I have said and I will not take one word back." This prompted the presiding judge to accuse Wilders of avoiding debate, which Wilders used to his advantage, citing bias in the judge. This caused the Dutch justice system to try itself on the subject of impartiality. Wilders also holds a large role in deciding what the new coalition government in the Netherlands will look like.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/10/04/130321356/dutch-politician-on-trial-for-comparing-koran-to-mein-kampf

Submitted by William Ragan

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