Free speech trumps hate speech; Dutch court pardons Anti-Muslim politician

The leader of Holland's far-right-wing Freedom Party was acquitted of charges for inciting hatred and discrimination.

Geert Wilders was charged with making a series of inflammatory remarks, including a comparison between the Koran and Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

As leader of the Freedom Party, Wilders made outlawing the immigration of Muslims into the Netherlands one of his party's rallying points. Additionally, Wilders produced a short film in 2008 called Fitna, which beseeched Muslims to tear hate-preaching verses from the Koran.

Amsterdam District Court Judge Marcel van Oosten ruled that although insensitive, Wilders' words and actions were protected by free speech laws.

You have spoken in a hurtful and also shocking way, Judge van Oosten said before the court. Even so, the court finds, in the broadest context, that you have to be able to propagate the message of such a film.

I am delighted with this ruling, Wilders stated on his website.

It is a victory, not only for me but for all the Dutch people. Today is a victory for freedom of speech. The Dutch are still allowed to speak critically about Islam, and resistance against Islamisation is not a crime. I have spoken, I speak and I shall continue to speak.

If convicted, Wilders would have faced a possible one-year sentence in prison.

The Freedom Party, which in its earlier years was compared to a cult, currently holds 10 of 75 seats in the Dutch senate, 24 of 150 seats in the House of Representatives, 5 of 26 seats in the European Parliament and 69 of 566 provincial government posts.

According to 2006 figures from the Dutch statistics bureau, there are 850,000 Muslims in Holland, roughly 5 percent of the population.