Dutch court to prosecute Wilders over anti-Islam film
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 | 10:16 AM ET
CBC News
The court will prosecute Dutch legislator Geert Wilders for statements made in his film, Fitna, as well as for comments in interviews and editorials. (Evert-Jan Daniels/Associated Press) Amsterdam's Court of Appeal has ordered the prosecution of outspoken Dutch politician Geert Wilders for hate-speech, related to his anti-Islamic film, Fitna.
In a decision posted on Wednesday, the court called on public prosecutors to begin a case against the right-wing, anti-immigration politician over statements he made in interviews, in editorials and in his 15-minute film, released last March on the internet.
The court singled out Wilders for insulting comments likening elements of the Muslim faith to Nazism and calling the Qur'an "a fascist book."
"The court considers this so insulting for Muslims that it is in the public interest to prosecute Wilders," a summary of the court's decision said.
Commenting to Dutch media, Wilders called it a "black day for myself and for freedom of speech."
Wilders' short film, which drew widespread condemnation and protests in Muslim countries, intersperses violent, graphic imagery — including from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and the beheading of a Caucasian man – with quotations from the Qur'an, Islam's holy book.
It ends with text saying Islam "seeks to destroy our Western civilization" and a caricature of Muhammad, his head drawn in the shape of a bomb that explodes into a crack of thunder and lightning.
The title, Fitna, refers to a Qur'anic term for "strife."
Wednesday's decision overturns the one made by the Dutch public prosecutor's office last year. After a six-month investigation, the office had decided not to pursue a case against Wilders, saying his remarks did not amount to a punishable offence.
With files from the Associated Press
