Lunatic fringe Islam to defend Wilders

The trial against Geert Wilders opened in Amsterdam 20 January. The leader of the Dutch far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) is accused of incitement to racial hatred and discrimination, based on his comments to various media on Muslims and their beliefs. De Volkskrant is not a little surprised by some the 18 witnesses Wilders has called in his defence , particularly Mohammed Bouyeri, the murderer of film director and columnist Theo van Gogh in 2004. With Bouyeri taking the stand, Wilders wants to prove that “Islam is in essence an evil religion”, explains the Dutch daily. He has also summoned Robert Spencer - director of Jihad Watch - two Iranian ayatollahs and Imam Fawaz Jneid, who lambasted Van Gogh just before his death. For De Volkskrant, though, even more unusual is the Chief Prosecutor’s line of attack. The trial “is about whether his comments constitute are illegal or not,” notes the daily. But the prosecutor sees things differently - “Prosecutor Paul Velleman thinks it is sensible to examine whether Wilders’ points of view have any basis in reality."