Wilders may face French court for speech made in New York
If they are trying to make a free-speech martyr out of a largely undeserving politician, they are certainly going about it the right way.
A French human rights group is trying to take the Dutch politician Geert Wilders to court over a speech he made in New York last September. Lawyer Yassine Bouzrou lodged a complaint on behalf of the ” Collective against Islamophobia”. It is currently being considered by the state prosecutor.
Bouzrou complains that Wilders had said such things as
aris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighborhoods
and
Many neighbourhoods in France are no-go areas for women without head scarves
Says Bouzrou:
Wilders says in that speech also that one in three French Muslims supports suicide attacks. With that he suggests that one in three French Muslims is a potential terrorist. Where he does he get all of this? How did he get ot it? Wilders makes serious accusations which are based on nothing.
So, Bouzrou, what you do is refute those allegations if you are able. You do not try to get the speaker sent to prison for up to a year for saying things you do not like.
The prosecutor cannot let this case go to court. The idea that a Dutchman can be prosecuted in France for saying something perfectly legal in the United States is simply too absurd to contemplate.
Europe is not Jordan.
If this goes through, the United States should issue speeding tickets to every driver in France.
Original article in Dutch, with thanks to Islam in Europe for the translation.
