Sharia-courts in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands

Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders has put a set of written parliamentary questions to the Dutch Government about the astonishing news that there are 85 sharia-courts in existence in the United Kingdom. Wilders feels that sharia-law should never be accepted and should be strongly countered. Dutch mosques where sharia-justice is being practiced should be tracked down and closed.

Read the questions below:

Written questions from the Parliament Members Fritsma and Wilders (both PVV) to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Justice on the existence of 85 sharia-courts in the United Kingdom.

1.)
Are you familiar with the reports on the existence of 85 sharia-courts in Great Britain (*)? Is this message correct?

2.)
Do you share our horror on the existence of 85 sharia-courts in the United Kingdom? Do you share our view that sharia- law does not coincide with our democratic values and freedoms, and that formal or informal sharia-law may never be accepted and should be strongly countered? If not, why not?

3.)
Are you prepared to strongly request the British government to shut down these 85 sharia-courts immediately? Which steps will you take to ensure the closing of these 85 sharia courts? If not, why not? Are there in any other Member States of the European Union formal or informal Sharia-courts?

4.)
Are there in the Netherlands any conflicts being settled, by imams or others in or outside mosques, based on sharia-law? Are you prepared to get this matter further examined in a detailed study? If not, why not?

5.)
Do you share the view that there should never be any formal nor informal sharia-law in the Netherlands, and that we should avoid that in our country any conflicts will be decided on by imams or others based on Islamic law? If not, why not?

*)
- Dailymail.co.uk
- Telegraph.co.uk
- Civitas.org.uk

After a Dutch television program reported that sharia-justice is also being practiced in the Netherlands, the following supplementary written parliamentary questions were added to the questions above.

Supplementary questions by the members of parliament Fritsma and Wilders (PVV) to the ministers for Integration and Justice about sharia-justice in the Netherlands.

1.
Are you familiar with the report by the television program Netwerk (*) in which various sources confirm that sharia-justice is being practiced in Dutch mosques?

2.
How do you feel about the fact that Dutch law is being undermined by Muslims in this way and about the fact that they do not care about the rules of Dutch society.

3.
Are you prepared to track down and close all Dutch mosques where sharia-justice is being practiced? If not, why not?

*) Netwerk, June 30th 2009.