Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Beat Goes On

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The trial of PVV leader Geert Wilders on charges of discrimination and incitement to hatred has been on hold for the last two months as Mr. Wilders’ lawyer wrangled with the court over various procedural motions. Now it appears that the last obstacle has been removed, and the trial will resume.

According to NIS News:

Wilders Trial to Continue as Court Rejects Defence Objections

THE HAGUE, 31/03/11 - The criminal case against MP Geert Wilders is going ahead as planned. The district court in Amsterdam yesterday rejected virtually all the technical objections put forward by Wilders’ lawyer Bram Moszkowicz. On one point, however, he got his way.

The lawyer had wanted the Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) to be declared inadmissible, which would have meant the end of the court case. But the court ruled that the OM had the right to prosecute Wilders for incitement to hatred and discrimination and defamation of certain groups including Moroccans. The OM cannot however prosecute Wilders for comparisons that he has made between Islam and Fascism, according to the court.

Another district court previously ruled that the OM must prosecute the MP - the OM itself did not want to do this because it did not consider he had broken the law at any point whatever. This verdict however gave no scope for including a particular statement by Wilders in the charges. This was the sentence: “I have had enough of the Koran in the Netherlands: Ban that Fascist book.”

MPs enjoy no immunity from prosecution for statements they make outside parliament. Moszkowicz considered they do. He also argued without any result that the court case, if it was then tried after all, should been tried in The Hague instead of Amsterdam.


Hat tip: Fjordman.

3 comments:

Blogger said...

Western governments need to reclassify Islam as a political organisation, then there would be no need for absurd trials like this. They could then stop the tax free support of this fascism, arrest the hate-preaching imams for sedition and help muslims 'see' for themselves they have been conned. The US is the perfect place for this action to begin. You Americans should get together and start petitions and lobbying the government. Get it reclassified before it's too late! Or before it starts to increase its "religious' disguise.

GeoffNewbury said...

In a common law criminal case, if the prosecutor offers no evidence, the judge must acquit. What happens in civil code court? What would happen if the OM, in accordance with its own determination, that no law had been broken, tendered no evidence and just sat down? In a common law trial, the defense would immediately 'Rest': that is, tender no evidence. Since there would be NO evidence, there is NO evidence that a crime has been committed, and more importantly that the accused had committed that offense.
What happens in the Nederlands? Can the judge call witnesses and examine them, at trial (as distinct to the exploratory stages). Can the judge require that Wilders or any other person attend to be examined?

Curious.

The Grey Ghost said...

Having just viewed a picture of Birgit van Rossell it is fairly apparent where she gets her political attitude from and consequently why she comes up with the decisions she does. Surely her photograph alone is grounds to recuse herself?