Prosecutors Ask That Geert Wilders Be Acquitted On All Charges

From Reuters:

Prosecutors asked a Dutch court on Friday to acquit anti-immigration lawmaker Geert Wilders on charges of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims.


Prosecutors, who had already called on the court to drop a charge that Wilders insulted Muslims by comparing Islam to Nazism, said his comments targeted Islam and not Muslims as a group. They said he also had the right as a politician to make statements about perceived problems in society.

Assuming the 2 reasons in the second paragraph are points of law, why were charges brought against Wilders in the first place?

Pajamas Media notes:

This doesn’t mean that the trial has stopped — next week the defense will continue. The Dutch law system demands a full cycle of prosecution and defense, and will end with an extensive verdict.

Though in theory the court could, it is clear that now it is almost impossible to convict Geert Wilders.

The Wilders On Trial website has nothing on this latest development, and hasn't been updated since October 5.

The site has the list of charges:

• Group defamation (article 137c of the Dutch Criminal Code).
• Inciting hatred against people, i.e. Muslims, on account of their religion (article 137 of the Dutch Criminal Code).
• Inciting discrimination against people, i.e. Muslims, on account of their religion (article 137d of the Dutch Criminal Code).
• Inciting hatred against people, i.e. non-western ethnic minorities and/or Moroccans, on account of their race (article 137d of the Dutch Criminal Code).
• Inciting discrimination against people, i.e. non-western ethnic minorities and/or Moroccans, on account of their race (article 137d of the Dutch Criminal Code).

If in fact all charges end up being dropped, I imagine that having already been acquitted once will make authorities think twice before bringing charges again--and may give Geert Wilders more leeway in the comments he makes.

Technorati Tag: Geert Wilders.