Freedom fighter: Wildeers in court yesterday, as show-trial judges barred 15 out of 18 requested witnesses and decreed that the witesses they did allow would be heard in secret

The killer of Theo van Gogh and 14 of the other witnesses anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders wanted to call in his defence 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.

Truth

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.

“This Court is not interested in the truth. This Court doesn’t want me to have a fair trial. I can’t have any respect for this. This Court would not be out of place in a dictatorship.” – Geert Wilders yesterday

Open court

The court also turned down the prosecution’s call for Wilders himself to be interviewed by an examining judge behind closed doors. Wilders had said he wanted to be questioned in open court.

The prosecution is not planning to bring any witnesses.

The case will take place at some point between June 1 and October 31, news agency ANP reported.

Wilders has  set up a website, Wilders on Trial,  to act as a focal point  and his diary for the case. We urge you to click on the banner above or in our blogroll links – and visit it regularly.

We can’t believe that what we are witnessing in this trial is the process of law in the Netherlands, the country that above all others has upheld values of freedon, tolerant and respect, amidst a haven of economic prosperity and high human development.

Wilders had chosen a panel of 18 witnessess, ranging from leading academics and experts on Islam to Mohammed Bouyeri, the ultraviolent  murderer of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. The judges have barred all but three. It has further decreed that the witnesses it has allowed will be heard behind closed doors.

Just what are the Dutch Judiciary afraid of?

Whatever the outcome, however, one thing is certain. Wilders has been polling consistently  as one of, if not the most popular politician in the Netherlands in recent months. The protest crowds outside the court are growing larger and more organised at each session.

We predict that the Dutch people will express their own verdict on this illiberal and frightening court case – and that could well result in Wilders becoming the Netherlands’ next Prime Minister.

[Source: DutchNews.nl]

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