An Amsterdam appeals court has ordered the prosecution of Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. The court alleges that Wilders’ film Fitna, in addition to various comments he has made about Islam, have “incited racial hatred and discrimination” against Dutch Muslims. This reverses last year’s decision by public prosecutors not to charge Wilders for his anti-Islam public commentary, which has likened Muslims to Nazis and has compared the Koran to Hitler’s book Mein Kampf.
While Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said the film wrongly equated Islam with violence and served “no purpose other than to offend”, Wilders defends the film as a an exercise of free speech. He has stated the decision of the courts are “an attack on the freedom of expression.”
