Hege Storhaug, HRS
Geert Wilders, Nederlands mest populære politiker og leder av det neste største partiet på ferske meningsmålinger, Frihetspartiet, er tiltalt for hatkriminalitet fordi han blant annet vil forby Koranen på samme grunnlag som at Hitlers Mein Kampf er forbudt ved lov. Wilders har ønsket en rekke spektakulære vitner i rettssaken som kommer opp mellom 1. juni og 31. oktober: Muhammed Bouyeri stod nok øverst på lista, da han i klartekst forklarte hvorfor han måtte drepe kunstneren og samfunnskritikeren Theo van Gogh i 2004: Jeg handlet i tråd med islamstifterens befaling, sa han. Også den amerikansksyriske psykiateren Wafa Sultan, som har levert noen mildt sagt ufordelaktige doser om islam, stod høyt på Wilders vitneliste. Sultan slapp gjennom «nåløyet», mens 13 andre Wilders ønsket vitneboksen er avvist av retten. Wilders står således igjen med tre ønsker, det vil si Sultan og to islameksperter til – som skal vitne bak lukkede dører.
Her fra Dutchnews
The killer of Theo van Gogh and 14 of the other witnesses anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders wanted to call in his defense against charges of discrimination and inciting hatred have been ruled inadmissible by Amsterdam district court.
But three Islam experts proposed by Wilders will be heard behind closed doors, the judges said on Wednesday afternoon. They include American Syrian psychiatrist Wafa Sultan who believes the world is witness to ‘a battle between modernity and barbarism which Islam will lose’.
The court also turned down Wilders’ request to hear five legal experts on the grounds that the MP will have ample opportunity to say whether or not he agrees with them during the trial. He had wanted to call 18 experts and Muslim radicals.
Wilders has stated his case not only rests on freedom of speech legislation but on the fact that he is speaking the truth.
‘This court is apparently not interested in the truth. I can conclude nothing else other than that the court does not wish me a fair trial,’ he was reported as saying by news agency ANP after the judges’ statement.
Wilders faces five counts of religious insult and anti-Muslim incitement. In January, the public prosecution department extended the prosecution case to include inciting hatred of Muslims, Moroccans and non-Western immigrants.The court also turned down the prosecution’s call for Wilders himself to be interviewed by an examining judge behind closed doors because of public order fears. Wilders had said he wanted to be questioned in open court.