Wilders wants jihadist murderer to testify at this trial

This is a canny move, since Mohammed Bouyeri cited the Qur'an to justify his murder of Theo Van Gogh. How, then, can Geert Wilders be guilty of "hate speech" simply for pointing out that the words of the Qur'an have incited Muslims to commit acts of violence against unbelievers?

"Dutch Critic of Islam Wants Extremist Killer to Testify at His Trial," by Patrick Goodenough for CNS News, February 3:

(CNSNews.com) - As the trial of Dutch anti-Islamist lawmaker Geert Wilders resumes Wednesday, the crucial question will be whether the court agrees to his request to have a Muslim extremist and convicted murderer testify.
Wilders, who faces charges of discrimination and incitement to hatred over his claims linking the Koran to violence, wants the court to hear from an extremist who cited the Islamic text to justify his crime.

Mohammed Bouyeri is serving a life sentence for murdering Dutch film director Theo van Gogh, who had stoked controversy with a documentary about the treatment of women under Islam.

Van Gogh was stabbed and shot to death on a street in Amsterdam street in 2004. In a note left pinned to his body with a knife, Bouyeri threatened to kill another person reviled by extremist Muslims in Europe - Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somalia-born Dutch politician who worked with Van Gogh on his film.

The lengthy note, which also warned that America, Europe and the Netherlands would be destroyed, included numerous references to the Koran.

Bouyeri, a Dutchman of Moroccan origin, had earlier penned another open letter posted on a Dutch Web site, again quoting from the Koran, threatening Wilders this time and declaring, "May Allah destroy you."

During his 2005 trial, Bouyeri carried a copy of the Koran, told the court he had acted purely in the name of his religion, and displayed no regret for the murder.

By calling Bouyeri as a defense witness, Wilders aims to bolster his case that as extremist Muslims themselves use the Koran to justify their violent actions, he should not be prosecuted for essentially telling the truth.

Bouyeri is one of more than a dozen witnesses Wilders wants to call upon during his trial. Others include experts on Islam and legal scholars.[...]

A year ago an appeals court in Amsterdam instructed prosecutors to indict Wilders, who leads the Freedom Party, for "inciting hatred and discrimination."

The charges relate not just to Wilders' film but, in the words of the three-judge panel's ruling, to "comments by him in various media on Muslims and their beliefs."

"The court also considers appropriate criminal prosecution for insulting Muslim worshippers because of comparisons between Islam and Nazism made by Wilders," the judges stated.

In 2007, Wilders wrote an open letter, published in a Dutch newspaper, in which he called the Koran a "fascist" text that should be outlawed in the Netherlands, in the same way as Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf is banned.

About that, see here.

If convicted, Wilders faces up to16 months in prison or a fine of about $14,000.

Unconscionable.

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Stephanie | February 3, 2010 5:26 AM | Reply

http://newstime.co.nz/2010/the-koran-is-a-declaration-of-open-ended-war-against-the-infidels-kafirs-extreme-degraded-word-for-unbelievers.html
… It is the prime directive of Islam to conquer the world for Allah by whatever means necessary.

The Koran is a declaration of open-ended war against the infidels. This war is permanent until all infidels have been converted to Islam or reduced to dhimmitude (institutionalized discrimination akin to slavery status), murdered or enslaved.

This is a cold-hard reality for the hear-no-evil, see-no-evil, do-nothing-about-evil naive infidels of our time. …”

duh_swami | February 3, 2010 5:27 AM | Reply

Unconscionable...

Yes it is...But in the end, Geert will prevail...Go Geert...

gozan | February 3, 2010 5:56 AM | Reply

...he should not be prosecuted for essentially telling the truth.

In the shadowy, ephemeral world of "hate crimes", a sufficiently greasy lawyer could argue that truth telling in and of itself is not a sufficient defense if the truth being told is "mean-spirited" or "hate-inspiring". To magistrates or jurors who've partaken in the PC/MC koolaid, such inanities make perfect sense.

Regardless, my money is still on Geert!

uncleoinky | February 3, 2010 6:07 AM | Reply

Be interesting to see if Bouyeri will still sing the same tune if called to trial, or downplay his previous sentiments on advice from the prosecutors.

My biggest lament is that this trial doesn't have any major coverage and will set the precedent for 'hate speech' laws. (The far-right label of Wilders is completely inaccurate, whenever he is covered... Another bee in the bonnet)

Shira | February 3, 2010 8:05 AM | Reply

Why don't these "hate speech" laws apply to Muslims in The Netherlands? They can go out and march and say anything they please with impunity.

What I haven't heard is an intelligent rebuttal to Wilders' "hate speech". If what he has said is not accurate, why are there no Muslims that can refute him?

Hesperado | February 3, 2010 8:06 AM | Reply

"Mohammed Bouyeri cited the Qur'an to justify his murder of Theo Van Gogh. How, then, can Geert Wilders be guilty of "hate speech" simply for pointing out that the words of the Qur'an have incited Muslims to commit acts of violence against unbelievers?"

Easy peasy:

1. Wilders has not "merely pointed out" that the Koran has incited Muslims to preach and commit acts of violence against non-Muslims -- he has been energetically and publicly pursuing this as what some view as a hobbyhorse (and we all know how subjective the perception of a pursuit of a hobbyhorse can be).

2. Bouyeri is a member of a "tiny minority of extremists" who is twisting the Koran to suit his own "extremism"; all religions have extremists, but Wilders, in the pursuit of his hobbyhorse, is either intending, and/or having the effect of, a maligning of the Islamic faith itself and thereby, by logical consequence, of all Muslims who follow Islam.

3. The millions of Muslims in the Netherlands, let alone the hundreds of millions worldwide, are therefore implicitly maligned by Wilders' hobbyhorse. Those millions, being perceived to be an "ethnic minority" are to be especially protected by us white Westerners, for we are ashamed of having been guilty so many times in our past of abusing the rights of ethnic minorities and treating them horribly, and our tendencies to do so perdures to this very day, and could devolve down the slippery slope toward ethnic cleansing or genocide -- that terrible devolution kept in check precisely by laws such as these which are now putting Wilders on trial.

So goes the logic of those trying Wilders; and, unfortunately, it is logical -- though not rational. Refuting it on rational grounds, however, will likely be unsuccesful if its logic is not confronted head on, and from all indications, it looks like Wilders has opted to oppose them rather on the logical level where, alas, his posture is built on illogical positions.

PRCS | February 3, 2010 11:49 AM | Reply

By that same reasoning, Khalid Sheik Mohammad--an English speaking Muslim fundamentalist--should definately be given a public platform from which he can authoritatively tell the American public (including our clueless politicians, political appointees, military leaders, retired generals posing on television as experts on Islam, police agencies, and lazy/dishonest journalists that this ongoing 1400 year old religious conflict being waged by jihadist's from around the globe against the world's non-Muslims is not the perversion of Islam's authentic teachings that we have been told, but is--in fact--being waged by true believers; Muslims who are willing to mutilate and even kill other human beings because that's what the Qur'an and Sunnah actually teach, and because that is what Islam expects of Allah's every able-bodied slave; including his American slaves.

And they need to know that the behavior of phony Muslims like Irshad Manji does not negate those teachings and that the mainstream Islam of Detroit (mainstream in our minds only because we are not exposed to the full range of its barbarity there) would be laughed at--or worse--in Kabul.

Islam is antithetical to democracy and is absolutely incompatible with the U.S. Constitution, and no matter where KSM's trial is ultimately held, the American public needs to hear an authentic militant jihadist tell us what Islam's true goals are for all of mankind.

avraidire | February 3, 2010 1:48 PM | Reply

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http://www.avraidire.eu/2010/01/fitna-version-francaise-geert-wilders-part-12

gravenimage | February 3, 2010 8:48 PM | Reply

Here is Mohammed Bouyeri's terrible handiwork:

http://bnp.org.uk/files/2009/11/theovangogh.jpg

If Geert Wilders didn't live under constant security, this might well be his fate as well. Yet, it is Wilders who is on trial. Madness.

Vashtivalentine | February 4, 2010 9:03 PM | Reply

To the children of God, and you know who you are...
We need to pray for Geert Wilders!!!

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