Trial of Geert Wilders
Encyclopedia
A trial of Dutch politician Geert Wilders
took place in the Netherlands
in 2010–2011. Wilders was accused of criminally insulting religious and ethnic groups and inciting hatred and discrimination
. He was found not guilty in June 2011.
Wilders is the leader of the Party for Freedom
and has earned controversy in the Netherlands and abroad for his criticisms of Islam
and what he describes as the Islamization
of the Netherlands
. He faced five counts of criminal offenses. The first was criminally insulting Muslims because of their religion. The remaining four charges were inciting hatred and discrimination of Muslims because of their religion and inciting hatred and discrimination against non-Western immigrants and/or Moroccans based on their race or ethnicity.
The charges were based on articles from the period 2006-2008 that Wilders had written online and in newspapers, as well as his film Fitna
. These statements included a call for a ban on the Quran, warnings against an "Islamic invasion" and a "tsunami of Islamization". He also called Islam a fascist religion, described Dutch-Moroccan
youths as violent and compared the Quran with Hitler's Mein Kampf. He has also referred to Mohammed as "the devil
".
The judges in the first trial were removed after a perceived bias against Wilders, and a retrial started in February 2011. The Dutch Public Prosecution Service
, after initially refusing to prosecute Wilders because it did not consider his statements illegal, was ordered by a court of appeal to prosecute him nonetheless. During the process, they argued that Wilders should be acquitted on all counts.
On 23 June 2011, Wilders was acquitted of all charges, with Judge Marcel van Oosten noting that his statements, although "gross and denigrating," had not given rise to hatred against Muslims, and as such were "acceptable within the context of public debate." The judge however noted, that the statements were on the edge of legal acceptability.
In 2008, Wilders was also charged by a prosecutor in Jordan
with blasphemy
and contempt for Muslims for producing Fitna
.
, as an MP, Wilders has immunity in the Dutch parliament with regards to communication, either in speech or in writing. However, this protection does not extend to anti-Islam comments he has made in the media. This became clear in 2007–2010, when protests against alleged insults and incitement to hatred resulted in the criminal prosecution of Wilders by the district attorney in Amsterdam
. On 3 February 2010, the Amsterdam court ruled itself to be competent on the charges against Wilders.
His comments and some of the content of Wilders' film Fitna
have been protested by agencies such as the Dutch anti-discrimination group Nederland Bekent Kleur ("The Netherlands Shows Its Colors"). On 15 August 2007, a representative of the public prosecution service in Amsterdam declared that dozens of reports against Wilders had been filed and that they were being considered.
Attempts to prosecute Wilders under Dutch anti-hate speech
laws in June 2008 were dropped, with the public prosecution stating that Wilders' comments contributed to the debate on Islam in Dutch society and had been made outside parliament. The office released a statement reading: "That comments are hurtful and offensive for a large number of Muslims does not mean that they are punishable. Freedom of expression fulfils an essential role in public debate in a democratic society. That means that offensive comments can be made in a political debate."
people in the Netherlands, and an organisation of mosques) appealed against the prosecution's decision to not pursue the case and on 21 January 2009, a three-judge court of appeal ordered the public prosecutor to try Wilders. Their statement said that "[i]n a democratic system, hate speech is considered so serious that it is in the general interest to ... draw a clear line" and that "the court also considers appropriate criminal prosecution for insulting Muslim worshippers because of comparisons between Islam and Nazism made by Wilders". If convicted, he could have been sentenced for up to 16 months of jail time or a fine of €9866.67. His lawyer Bram Moszkowicz
tried to have this appeal overturned at the Supreme Court of the Netherlands
, but the Supreme Court's Procurator General decided he would not take on the case.
On 4 December 2009, Wilders was ordered to appear before the court on 20 January 2010, to defend himself to the charges of group insult of Muslims, fomenting hate and discrimination against Muslims because of their religion, and fomenting hate and discrimination against non-western foreigners and/or Moroccans because of their race.
On 11 January 2010, the Dutch public prosecution service brought additional charges against him. He was charged with hatred against Moroccans and non-Western immigrants.
On 13 January 2010, the Amsterdam court rejected, after a closed pretrial hearing, submissions by Wilders that one of the charges against him should be dropped or reduced. He argued that he had only criticized Islam and not its adherents, and that the charge of insulting Muslims as a group should not stand. His lawyer Moszkowicz petitioned judges to drop the charge of insulting Muslims as a group, which he said would have little chance of winning a conviction. He cited a 2009 Dutch Supreme Court
ruling that found insulting a religion is not the same as insulting followers of that religion, and not punishable under the current hate-speech laws. The judge said that the indictment only put into practice an earlier court ruling that he should stand trial and that the defense had not put forward any new evidence to overturn that ruling.
Charge 1 is based on article 137c of the Dutch criminal code and charges 2–5 on article 137d.
, among others.
When the trial resumed on 3 February, the judges decided who would be called as witnesses. Wilders' witness list had consisted of a number of various experts on both the law and Islam and included university professors, radical imams and also Mohammed Bouyeri
, the man who murdered film maker Theo van Gogh
.
The witnesses that Wilders wanted called include: Henny Sackers, Dutch professor of criminal law from the Radboud University Nijmegen
and scholar on blasphemy
, religious discrimination and hate crime
; Tom Zwart, Dutch professor of human rights law, Utrecht University
; Theo de Roos, Dutch professor of criminal law
, Tilburg University; Afshin Ellian, Dutch-Iranian professor, Leiden University
; Andras Sajo, Hungarian judge, European Court for Human Rights; Hans Jansen, Dutch arabist and author of a book titled "Islam for Pigs, Donkeys, Monkeys and Other Beasts"; Simon Admiraal, Dutch author; Wafa Sultan
, author of A god who hates; Raphael Israeli
, Israeli professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
; Sam Solomon, author of The mosque exposed; B. French, director of the Centre for the Study of Political Islam; Andrew Bostom, author of The Legacy of Jihad
; Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch
; F. Jneid, imam from The Hague; Y. Al-Qaradawi, University of Qatar; Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati from Iran; Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi from Iran; and Mohammed Bouyeri, convicted for murder.
Of these 18 witnesses, 15 were rejected by the court. It ruled that Bouyeri and other Muslim extremists would not be allowed to testify in the case. The court accepted only the three Islam experts whom Wilders had called, rejecting all the lawyers and Islamic extremists. Wilders wanted to put Islamic extremists in the witness box, to illustrate what he sees as the danger of Islam, and to justify his criticism of the religion. The court also rejected the plea by Wilders' lawyer that the case should be transferred to the Supreme Court, because Wilders is an MP. The court overruled this objection against its jurisdiction: "Parliamentary immunity does not extend to what a public representative says or writes outside of parliamentary gatherings", said Jan Moors, one of the judges at the Amsterdam court. Wilders' comment was that he was being denied a fair trial.
During the trial it became clear that the prosecutors were arguing for Wilders to be acquitted on all five counts.
On 22 October 2010, when the trial was nearing its conclusion, Wilders' attorney Moszkowicz asked for the judges to be substituted
because of a perceived bias against his client. Moszkowicz had asked for substitution before, but was denied the first time. The second time, the substitution was requested because Tom Schalken, one of the judges in the court of appeal case that ordered (on 21 January 2009) the prosecution of Wilders, had allegedly tried to convince a witness in the main trial, Hans Jansen, that the trial was justified. Moszkowicz wanted to hear this witness immediately regarding the alleged conflict of interest, but the court decided it would not hear the witness. The substitution chamber decided that this decision had an appearance of bias and awarded the substitution, thereby ordering a retrial.
In the meantime, the alleged victims complained with the court of appeal that the prosecutors had not fulfilled the court of appeal's order that Wilders had to be prosecuted by arguing for acquittal, and that the two prosecutors should be replaced in the retrial. On 4 February 2011, the court of appeal decided against this complaint.
On 23 May 2011, the judges decided that, although Schalken should not have talked to Jansen, the witness had not been influenced, and the case could continue. As in the first trial, the public prosecution argued that Wilders should be acquitted on all counts. On 1 June, the hearings concluded with Geert Wilders asking the judges to find him not guilty.
On 23 June 2011, Wilders was acquitted by the court of all charges, because his statements were, as presiding judge Marcel van Oosten put it, "acceptable within the context of public debate." Because both the public prosecutor and the defense requested complete acquittal, the verdict will most likely not be appealed, although some thought the plaintiffs might try to take the case before the European Court of Human Rights
.
, "a high-profile affair". Wilders labeled the judgement an "attack on the freedom of expression". The prosecution was condemned by editorials in the Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, The Washington Times
, The American Spectator
, Forbes
, Dallas Morning News City Journal, Montreal Gazette, The Jerusalem Post
, Canada.com, and The Australian
. New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
criticized it in front of the Mayor of Amsterdam and the Dutch Ambassador to the United States. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy called the case "alarming".
The Dutch center-left Labour party welcomed the court's 2009 ruling. The Socialist Party
did as well. The Muslims and Government Consultative Body, said that "We are positive that this will contribute to a more respectful tone to the public debate." Abdelmajid Khairoun, Dutch Muslim Council chairman, expressed support, stating that "Muslim youngsters who make anti-Semitic remarks are prosecuted but Wilders' anti-Islamic remarks go unpunished".
The American Middle East Forum
established a Legal Defence Fund for Wilders's defence. The New York Times ran a supportive op-ed
arguing that "for a man who calls for a ban on the Koran to act as the champion of free speech is a bit rich".
A February 2009 survey by Angus Reid Global Monitor found that public opinion was deeply split on the prosecution, with 50% supporting Wilders and 43% opposed. However, public support for the Party for Freedom vastly increased since Wilders' legal troubles began, with the Party for Freedom virtually tied with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy to be the third most popular party. According to Radio Netherlands, "Dutch politicians themselves seem to be keeping quiet on the issue; they are probably worried that media attention will only serve to make the controversial politician more popular."
According to Robert Spencer, creator of Jihad Watch
, and author of articles and books relating to Islam and Islamic terrorism, in National Review Online "The Geert Wilders trial ought to be an international media event; seldom has any court case anywhere had such enormous implications for the future of the free world ".
Geert Wilders cited a similar case of Islam related free-speech restrictions with Gregorius Nekschot
on his website.
After being cleared of all charges, Wilders commented that the victory was not only an acquittal for himself, but a victory for freedom of expression in the Netherlands
. Commentators believed that the plaintiffs may attempt to bring their case before the European Court of Human Rights
. Gerard Spong, a lawyer instrumental in getting the case heard, expressed his disappointment with the verdict, seeing the judge's ruling based on "public context" as vague. Theo de Roos, professor of law at the Tilburg University, saw the case as a precedent for ethnic incitement in Dutch law – only actual threats could be any longer seen as being prohibited.
Websites dedicated to the trial: Wilders on trial – a sledgehammer blow to the freedom of speech Het Wilders proces – aanslag op de vrijheid van meningsuiting Actueel thema Proces Wilders – website Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad
Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
took place in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in 2010–2011. Wilders was accused of criminally insulting religious and ethnic groups and inciting hatred and discrimination
Religious discrimination
Religious discrimination is valuing or treating a person or group differently because of what they do or do not believe.A concept like that of 'religious discrimination' is necessary to take into account ambiguities of the term religious persecution. The infamous cases in which people have been...
. He was found not guilty in June 2011.
Wilders is the leader of the Party for Freedom
Party for Freedom
The Party for Freedom is a Dutch right-wing political party. Founded in 2005 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man party in the House of Representatives, it won nine seats in the 2006 general election, making it the fifth largest party in parliament, and third largest opposition party. It...
and has earned controversy in the Netherlands and abroad for his criticisms of Islam
Criticism of Islam
Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages. Early written criticism came from Christians, prior to the ninth century, many of whom viewed Islam as a radical Christian heresy...
and what he describes as the Islamization
Islamization
Islamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...
of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. He faced five counts of criminal offenses. The first was criminally insulting Muslims because of their religion. The remaining four charges were inciting hatred and discrimination of Muslims because of their religion and inciting hatred and discrimination against non-Western immigrants and/or Moroccans based on their race or ethnicity.
The charges were based on articles from the period 2006-2008 that Wilders had written online and in newspapers, as well as his film Fitna
Fitna (film)
Fitna is a 2008 short political, propaganda film by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders with his view on the religion of the Islam. Approximately 17 minutes in length, the movie shows selected excerpts from Suras of the Qur'an, interspersed with media clips and newspaper cuttings showing or...
. These statements included a call for a ban on the Quran, warnings against an "Islamic invasion" and a "tsunami of Islamization". He also called Islam a fascist religion, described Dutch-Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
youths as violent and compared the Quran with Hitler's Mein Kampf. He has also referred to Mohammed as "the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
".
The judges in the first trial were removed after a perceived bias against Wilders, and a retrial started in February 2011. The Dutch Public Prosecution Service
Openbaar Ministerie
The Public Prosecution Service is the body of public prosecutors in the Netherlands. Together with the judges, it forms the judiciary in the Dutch criminal justice system....
, after initially refusing to prosecute Wilders because it did not consider his statements illegal, was ordered by a court of appeal to prosecute him nonetheless. During the process, they argued that Wilders should be acquitted on all counts.
On 23 June 2011, Wilders was acquitted of all charges, with Judge Marcel van Oosten noting that his statements, although "gross and denigrating," had not given rise to hatred against Muslims, and as such were "acceptable within the context of public debate." The judge however noted, that the statements were on the edge of legal acceptability.
In 2008, Wilders was also charged by a prosecutor in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
with blasphemy
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
and contempt for Muslims for producing Fitna
Fitna (film)
Fitna is a 2008 short political, propaganda film by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders with his view on the religion of the Islam. Approximately 17 minutes in length, the movie shows selected excerpts from Suras of the Qur'an, interspersed with media clips and newspaper cuttings showing or...
.
Antecedents
According to Article 71 of the Dutch ConstitutionConstitution of the Netherlands
The Constitution of the Netherlands is the fundamental law of the European territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The present constitution is generally seen as directly derived from the one issued in 1815, constituting a constitutional monarchy. A revision in 1848 instituted a system of...
, as an MP, Wilders has immunity in the Dutch parliament with regards to communication, either in speech or in writing. However, this protection does not extend to anti-Islam comments he has made in the media. This became clear in 2007–2010, when protests against alleged insults and incitement to hatred resulted in the criminal prosecution of Wilders by the district attorney in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. On 3 February 2010, the Amsterdam court ruled itself to be competent on the charges against Wilders.
His comments and some of the content of Wilders' film Fitna
Fitna (film)
Fitna is a 2008 short political, propaganda film by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders with his view on the religion of the Islam. Approximately 17 minutes in length, the movie shows selected excerpts from Suras of the Qur'an, interspersed with media clips and newspaper cuttings showing or...
have been protested by agencies such as the Dutch anti-discrimination group Nederland Bekent Kleur ("The Netherlands Shows Its Colors"). On 15 August 2007, a representative of the public prosecution service in Amsterdam declared that dozens of reports against Wilders had been filed and that they were being considered.
Attempts to prosecute Wilders under Dutch anti-hate speech
Hate speech
Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic....
laws in June 2008 were dropped, with the public prosecution stating that Wilders' comments contributed to the debate on Islam in Dutch society and had been made outside parliament. The office released a statement reading: "That comments are hurtful and offensive for a large number of Muslims does not mean that they are punishable. Freedom of expression fulfils an essential role in public debate in a democratic society. That means that offensive comments can be made in a political debate."
Decision to try
The alleged victims (Nederlands bekent kleur, organisations of Turkish, Moroccan and AntilleanAntilles
The Antilles islands form the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. The Antilles are divided into two major groups: the "Greater Antilles" to the north and west, including the larger islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico; and the smaller "Lesser Antilles" on the...
people in the Netherlands, and an organisation of mosques) appealed against the prosecution's decision to not pursue the case and on 21 January 2009, a three-judge court of appeal ordered the public prosecutor to try Wilders. Their statement said that "[i]n a democratic system, hate speech is considered so serious that it is in the general interest to ... draw a clear line" and that "the court also considers appropriate criminal prosecution for insulting Muslim worshippers because of comparisons between Islam and Nazism made by Wilders". If convicted, he could have been sentenced for up to 16 months of jail time or a fine of €9866.67. His lawyer Bram Moszkowicz
Bram Moszkowicz
Abraham Maarten Moszkowicz is a Dutch lawyer. Bram Moszkowicz is the son of Berthe Bessant and lawyer Max Moszkowicz...
tried to have this appeal overturned at the Supreme Court of the Netherlands
Hoge Raad der Nederlanden
The Supreme Court of the Netherlands is the highest court of the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba. The Court was established on 1 October 1838 and sits in The Hague, Netherlands....
, but the Supreme Court's Procurator General decided he would not take on the case.
On 4 December 2009, Wilders was ordered to appear before the court on 20 January 2010, to defend himself to the charges of group insult of Muslims, fomenting hate and discrimination against Muslims because of their religion, and fomenting hate and discrimination against non-western foreigners and/or Moroccans because of their race.
On 11 January 2010, the Dutch public prosecution service brought additional charges against him. He was charged with hatred against Moroccans and non-Western immigrants.
On 13 January 2010, the Amsterdam court rejected, after a closed pretrial hearing, submissions by Wilders that one of the charges against him should be dropped or reduced. He argued that he had only criticized Islam and not its adherents, and that the charge of insulting Muslims as a group should not stand. His lawyer Moszkowicz petitioned judges to drop the charge of insulting Muslims as a group, which he said would have little chance of winning a conviction. He cited a 2009 Dutch Supreme Court
Hoge Raad der Nederlanden
The Supreme Court of the Netherlands is the highest court of the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba. The Court was established on 1 October 1838 and sits in The Hague, Netherlands....
ruling that found insulting a religion is not the same as insulting followers of that religion, and not punishable under the current hate-speech laws. The judge said that the indictment only put into practice an earlier court ruling that he should stand trial and that the defense had not put forward any new evidence to overturn that ruling.
Charges
Wilders was charged with the following five counts:- Group insultInsultAn insult is an expression, statement which is considered degrading and offensive. Insults may be intentional or accidental...
- Inciting hatredHate crimeIn crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
against Muslims because of their religion - Inciting discrimination against Muslims because of their religion
- Inciting hatred against non-western immigrantsAllochtoonAllochtoon is a Dutch word , literally meaning "originating from another country"...
and Moroccans because of their race - Inciting discrimination against non-western immigrants and Moroccans because of their race
Charge 1 is based on article 137c of the Dutch criminal code and charges 2–5 on article 137d.
First trial
The court sessions started on 20 January 2010. Wilders was accused of discrimination on the basis of religion and spreading hate. On the eve of his trial Wilders told journalists he expected to be acquitted and said "I have done nothing wrong". He said he should be able to speak the truth about Islam, even if that is painful for some people. After receiving the summons he commented that he considered the prosecution as "a political trial". He announced that during the hearing he wanted to ask various experts to act as witnesses. At the first day of the trials, Wilders held a speech recalling Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, among others.
When the trial resumed on 3 February, the judges decided who would be called as witnesses. Wilders' witness list had consisted of a number of various experts on both the law and Islam and included university professors, radical imams and also Mohammed Bouyeri
Mohammed Bouyeri
Mohammed Bouyeri is an Islamist Dutch–Moroccan and convicted murderer. He is currently serving a life sentence without parole for the assassination of Dutch film director Theo van Gogh. He holds both Dutch and Moroccan citizenship...
, the man who murdered film maker Theo van Gogh
Theo van Gogh (film director)
Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor.Van Gogh worked with the Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam and aroused controversy among Muslims...
.
The witnesses that Wilders wanted called include: Henny Sackers, Dutch professor of criminal law from the Radboud University Nijmegen
Radboud University Nijmegen
Radboud University Nijmegen is a public university with a strong focus on research in Nijmegen, the Netherlands...
and scholar on blasphemy
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
, religious discrimination and hate crime
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
; Tom Zwart, Dutch professor of human rights law, Utrecht University
Utrecht University
Utrecht University is a university in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. Established March 26, 1636, it had an enrollment of 29,082 students in 2008, and employed 8,614 faculty and staff, 570 of which are full professors....
; Theo de Roos, Dutch professor of criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
, Tilburg University; Afshin Ellian, Dutch-Iranian professor, Leiden University
Leiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
; Andras Sajo, Hungarian judge, European Court for Human Rights; Hans Jansen, Dutch arabist and author of a book titled "Islam for Pigs, Donkeys, Monkeys and Other Beasts"; Simon Admiraal, Dutch author; Wafa Sultan
Wafa Sultan
Wafa Sultan is a medical doctor who trained as a psychiatrist in Syria, and an American author and critic of Muslim society and Islam.-Life and career:Sultan was born into a large traditional Alawite Muslim family in Baniyas, Syria....
, author of A god who hates; Raphael Israeli
Raphael Israeli
Raphael Israeli is an Israeli academic, Professor of Islamic, Middle Eastern and Chinese history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a member of the steering committee of the Ariel Center for Policy Research....
, Israeli professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
; Sam Solomon, author of The mosque exposed; B. French, director of the Centre for the Study of Political Islam; Andrew Bostom, author of The Legacy of Jihad
The Legacy of Jihad
The Legacy of Jihad is a book by Andrew Bostom. The foreword was written by self-proclaimed ex-Muslim author and polemicist, "Ibn Warraq"....
; Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch
Jihad Watch
Jihad Watch is a blog affiliated with the David Horowitz Freedom Center, which is run independently by American author Robert Spencer. It is considered an important platform for the counterjihad movement....
; F. Jneid, imam from The Hague; Y. Al-Qaradawi, University of Qatar; Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati from Iran; Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi from Iran; and Mohammed Bouyeri, convicted for murder.
Of these 18 witnesses, 15 were rejected by the court. It ruled that Bouyeri and other Muslim extremists would not be allowed to testify in the case. The court accepted only the three Islam experts whom Wilders had called, rejecting all the lawyers and Islamic extremists. Wilders wanted to put Islamic extremists in the witness box, to illustrate what he sees as the danger of Islam, and to justify his criticism of the religion. The court also rejected the plea by Wilders' lawyer that the case should be transferred to the Supreme Court, because Wilders is an MP. The court overruled this objection against its jurisdiction: "Parliamentary immunity does not extend to what a public representative says or writes outside of parliamentary gatherings", said Jan Moors, one of the judges at the Amsterdam court. Wilders' comment was that he was being denied a fair trial.
During the trial it became clear that the prosecutors were arguing for Wilders to be acquitted on all five counts.
On 22 October 2010, when the trial was nearing its conclusion, Wilders' attorney Moszkowicz asked for the judges to be substituted
Substitution (law)
In legal terms, the Right of Substitution is a statutory right of all parties except the State. It is the right to change the presiding court official with or without cause....
because of a perceived bias against his client. Moszkowicz had asked for substitution before, but was denied the first time. The second time, the substitution was requested because Tom Schalken, one of the judges in the court of appeal case that ordered (on 21 January 2009) the prosecution of Wilders, had allegedly tried to convince a witness in the main trial, Hans Jansen, that the trial was justified. Moszkowicz wanted to hear this witness immediately regarding the alleged conflict of interest, but the court decided it would not hear the witness. The substitution chamber decided that this decision had an appearance of bias and awarded the substitution, thereby ordering a retrial.
In the meantime, the alleged victims complained with the court of appeal that the prosecutors had not fulfilled the court of appeal's order that Wilders had to be prosecuted by arguing for acquittal, and that the two prosecutors should be replaced in the retrial. On 4 February 2011, the court of appeal decided against this complaint.
Second trial
On 7 February 2011, the retrial against Geert Wilders started. In the period between the two trials, the police had investigated the claims that the appeal judge (Tom Schalken) had tried to influence witness Hans Jansen. The new trial began with hearing the witnesses Schalken, Jansen and Bertus Hendriks; the latter had hosted the dinner party at which Schalken talked to Jansen. Moszkowicz argued that the trial against Geert Wilders could not continue because the witness had been influenced. During the hearing of witness Hendriks, Moszkowicz claimed that Hendriks had committed perjury; when the judges did not agree with him, Moszkowicz tried to have them substituted as well, but the request failed.On 23 May 2011, the judges decided that, although Schalken should not have talked to Jansen, the witness had not been influenced, and the case could continue. As in the first trial, the public prosecution argued that Wilders should be acquitted on all counts. On 1 June, the hearings concluded with Geert Wilders asking the judges to find him not guilty.
On 23 June 2011, Wilders was acquitted by the court of all charges, because his statements were, as presiding judge Marcel van Oosten put it, "acceptable within the context of public debate." Because both the public prosecutor and the defense requested complete acquittal, the verdict will most likely not be appealed, although some thought the plaintiffs might try to take the case before the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
.
Responses
The prosecution created, in the words of HaaretzHaaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
, "a high-profile affair". Wilders labeled the judgement an "attack on the freedom of expression". The prosecution was condemned by editorials in the Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
, The American Spectator
The American Spectator
The American Spectator is a conservative U.S. monthly magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. From its founding in 1967 until the late 1980s, the small-circulation magazine featured the writings of authors...
, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
, Dallas Morning News City Journal, Montreal Gazette, The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
, Canada.com, and The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
. New York City Mayor
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
criticized it in front of the Mayor of Amsterdam and the Dutch Ambassador to the United States. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy called the case "alarming".
The Dutch center-left Labour party welcomed the court's 2009 ruling. The Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Netherlands)
The Socialist Party is a democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands. After the 2006 general election, the Socialist Party became one of the major parties of the Netherlands with 25 seats of 150, an increase of 16 seats. The party was in opposition against the fourth Balkenende cabinet...
did as well. The Muslims and Government Consultative Body, said that "We are positive that this will contribute to a more respectful tone to the public debate." Abdelmajid Khairoun, Dutch Muslim Council chairman, expressed support, stating that "Muslim youngsters who make anti-Semitic remarks are prosecuted but Wilders' anti-Islamic remarks go unpunished".
The American Middle East Forum
Middle East Forum
The Middle East Forum is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who also serves as its director. MEF became a 5013 non-profit organization in 1994...
established a Legal Defence Fund for Wilders's defence. The New York Times ran a supportive op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
arguing that "for a man who calls for a ban on the Koran to act as the champion of free speech is a bit rich".
A February 2009 survey by Angus Reid Global Monitor found that public opinion was deeply split on the prosecution, with 50% supporting Wilders and 43% opposed. However, public support for the Party for Freedom vastly increased since Wilders' legal troubles began, with the Party for Freedom virtually tied with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy to be the third most popular party. According to Radio Netherlands, "Dutch politicians themselves seem to be keeping quiet on the issue; they are probably worried that media attention will only serve to make the controversial politician more popular."
According to Robert Spencer, creator of Jihad Watch
Jihad Watch
Jihad Watch is a blog affiliated with the David Horowitz Freedom Center, which is run independently by American author Robert Spencer. It is considered an important platform for the counterjihad movement....
, and author of articles and books relating to Islam and Islamic terrorism, in National Review Online "The Geert Wilders trial ought to be an international media event; seldom has any court case anywhere had such enormous implications for the future of the free world ".
Free speech
According to Wilders himself, it was not he who was on trial, but his "freedom of speech" and that at stake were traditional European freedoms. In February 2010, in an interview with Israel National Radio, Wilders said he was "fighting for one thing: the preservation of our culture, which is based on Christianity, Judaism and humanism – and not on Islam... While Islamization of our society grows, the political elite looks in the other direction and ignores the real problem, namely, the impending loss of our freedom. I am fighting not against Moslems, but against the influx of a totalitarian ideology called Islam."Geert Wilders cited a similar case of Islam related free-speech restrictions with Gregorius Nekschot
Gregorius Nekschot
Gregorius Nekschot is the pseudonym of a controversial Dutch cartoonist who mocks political ideas about Dutch multicultural society and the behaviour of people with rigid religious or ideological views. Islam is frequently subject of his cartoons. Gregorius Nekschot publishes his cartoons and...
on his website.
After being cleared of all charges, Wilders commented that the victory was not only an acquittal for himself, but a victory for freedom of expression in the Netherlands
Human rights in the Netherlands
The human rights of the Netherlands are codified in the Dutch constitution. Together with other European states, the Netherlands is often at or near the head in international civil liberties and political rights rankings.-Constitutional rights:...
. Commentators believed that the plaintiffs may attempt to bring their case before the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
. Gerard Spong, a lawyer instrumental in getting the case heard, expressed his disappointment with the verdict, seeing the judge's ruling based on "public context" as vague. Theo de Roos, professor of law at the Tilburg University, saw the case as a precedent for ethnic incitement in Dutch law – only actual threats could be any longer seen as being prohibited.
External links
personal weblog Geert Wilders website of Freedom Party (PVV)Websites dedicated to the trial: Wilders on trial – a sledgehammer blow to the freedom of speech Het Wilders proces – aanslag op de vrijheid van meningsuiting Actueel thema Proces Wilders – website Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad