In the press

The Wilders trial shows the threat religious hate-speech laws pose to free speech.

Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders was threatened with criminal punishment for hate speech from the moment his anti-Koran film Fitna hit the internet in March 2008. Last month, a Dutch judicial oversight body ordered that he be tried anew after finding that judges in the first round of court proceedings appeared to be biased. Even if Mr. Wilders is ultimately acquitted, as his prosecutors themselves urge, he will have already been punished by years of costly and tiring legal wrangling.

The Alice in Wonderland justice system on display in the Amsterdam Court show trial of MP Geert Wilders took another bizarre turn. One of the presiding judges engaged in a thinly veiled attempt to turn an expert witness for the defense, Hans Jansen at a dinner party. Anywhere in the US, such antics would get the Judge dismissed from the bench and subjected to a judicial ethics proceeding leading to possible disbarrment. Wilders accomplished defense counsel, Bram Moszkowicz immediately requested that the judges in the proceeding be dismissed and the witness be recalled. November 5th had been set for a decision in the case. Certainly the public prosecutors thought there was no basis for a conviction of Wilders based on the original charges of violations of a hoary hate speech law in The Netherland. Wilders broke his self imposed silence to say, " The trial is a great big Mess".

The trial of Dutch politician Geert Wilders has been altogether an extraordinary event. He is accused of saying rude and even hateful things about Islam, the prophet Mohammed, and the Koran — and people are not supposed to talk like that, in public at least. The case against him appears to be coming undone: Prosecutors have requested that the charges be dropped, but the final decision remains in the hands of the court.

Friday came the good news: Amsterdam public prosecutors Birgit van Roessel and Paul Velleman declared Dutch freedom fighter Geert Wilders not guilty of discrimination against Muslims and inciting hatred against them. But his trial continues: the prosecutors’ decision is not final. A judge will issue a ruling on November 5, and he doesn’t have to follow the prosecutors’ recommendations. So the freedom of speech still hangs in the balance in the Netherlands, as well as in Europe and the West in general.