Dutch MP Faces Additional Charges During Trial for Inciting Hatred

October 12 2010

Anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders has been summoned for by a court in The Hague for charges of damaging the reputation of a local imam. Fawaz Jneid is claiming damages for the use of his image in Wilders’ 2008 anti-Islam film Fitna. Dutch law does not allow the use of pictures of individuals without their explicit consent. Jneid claims his portrait rights have been infringed, that Wilders broke the law, and that his good name has been damaged. He is seeking 55 000 euros in damages.

Meanwhile, Wilders’ court case for inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims entered its second week. The public prosecution said that Wilders should be found not guilty of insulting Muslims and non-western immigrants as a group, reasoning that by likening the Quran to Mein Kampf, Wilders criticized Islam rather than Muslims.

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