A Dutch court ordered a retrial Friday for anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders, sending the closely-watched hate speech case back to square one before a whole new panel of judges.
The far-right politician faces charges of inciting hatred against Muslims for many remarks, including some equating Islam with fascism and violence and others calling for a ban on the Quran and a tax on Muslim headscarves.
Wilders accused judges at the Amsterdam District Court of bias and called for their dismissal after they refused to recall a defense witness who wrote on a weblog that a member of an appeals panel directly involved in the case had improperly contacted him.
A hastily convened substitute panel ruled Friday that Wilders' objections were valid, which means the trial that began in January must restart from the beginning with new judges.
Wilders welcomed the decision.
"This gives me a new chance on a new fair trial," he said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "I am confident that I can only be acquitted because I have broken no law but spoke the truth and nothing but the truth and exercised my freedom of speech in an important public debate about the dangerous totalitarian ideology called Islam."
Judge G. Marcus said the panel understood Wilders' "fear that the court's decision displays a degree of bias ... and under those circumstances accepts the appeal."
Since the charges were filed, Wilders' party has become part of the Netherland's ruling conservative government, making him one of the most powerful politicians in the nation.
Wilders' case pits his right to freedom of speech against the right of Muslims to worship freely. Dozens of complaints had been filed against Wilders by Muslims who said they felt insulted or threatened by remarks such as "let not one more Muslim immigrate" and "I've had enough of the Quran in the Netherlands: Forbid that fascist book."
Prosecutors initially refused to take the case, saying Wilders' remarks are part of legitimate political debate. But they were ordered to do so by appeals judges, who said there was sufficient evidence for a hate speech trial.
Defense witness Hans Jansen, called as an expert on Islamic culture, wrote on his personal website that he had been approached at a dinner party by one of the appeals judges, Tom Schalken.
"He kept steering the conversation back to the Wilders case," Jansen wrote. "He tried to convince me that his decision to drag Wilders in front of the Amsterdam District Court was correct."
Wilders earlier had asked the court to dismiss the judges because one said that Wilders appeared to be dodging debate by remaining silent in court. That motion was rejected.
The politician asked again Friday that the judges be dismissed, calling Schalken's contact with Jansen "scandalous."
"A judge that's part of my process in the sense that he decided I should be prosecuted ... without blinking an eye goes to dinner and tries to convince a witness that he's right," Wilders told a new panel of judges convened to rule on the dismissal. "I wonder which circus I've landed in here."
A conservative government that depends on Wilders' Freedom Party to reach a one-vote majority in parliament took office this month. In return for his support, the government has vowed to turn away more asylum seekers, halve the number of new immigrants from non-Western countries, ban face-concealing Muslim garb for women in public and force immigrants to pay for their own mandatory citizenship classes.
Associated Press
Friday, 22 October 2010
Two more immigrant shootings in Malmö (Sweden)
Malmö police have recruited the detective who played a decisive role in apprehending "Laser Man" gunman John Ausonius as a new double shooting has further raised fears of a repeat of 1991's racist attacks.
The news comes as a further two women were hurt in a new shooting in Malmö on Thursday evening. The women, aged 26 and 34, were shot while in an apartment in the Kroksbäck neighbourhood of the city.
"They are immigrants from a European country," said Calle Persson at Skåne police.
Detective inspector Eiler Augustsson is credited with having played a decisive role in the investigation and arrest of John Ausonius, who terrorized Stockholm’s immigrant population in the beginning of the 1990s.
Ausonius received his "Laser Man" moniker because his victims were targeted with a red dot from a rifle equipped with a laser sight.
Police fear that the shootings are the latest in a wave of attacks which are deliberately targeting people of immigrant origin. A total of 50 shootings have been recorded in the city this year, and police fear a number of these may have been carried out by a lone gunman.
Aside from the two women, there was also a child in the apartment when the shootings occurred.
"The child has been taken care of, I think by relatives," Persson said.
The apartment is located on the first floor of the apartment building.
The police have completed their forensic inspection of the apartment but are as yet uncertain as to the firearm used.
"Forensic evidence has been recovered from the location," said Jesper Ingvert at Malmö police to the local Sydsvenskan daily.
While no suspects have yet been identified, police confirm that they have a witness who could have seen the perpetrator.
"We have witnesses which we have interviewed. One of the witnesses has seen a man who left the location running," said Ingvert.
Malmö police plan to review their resources on Friday morning.
"We are going to put together a team here in the morning which will look at our operation in a little longer perspective," said Peter Martinsson at Malmö police.
Integration minister Erik Ullenhag, in an opinion article in the Expressen daily on Friday, called the attacks "alarming".
"Everyone has a responsibility to defend the open society where all, regardless of background, can be safe on our streets and town squares," Ullenhag wrote.
Ullenhag plans to visit Malmö on Friday to gather information on the atmosphere in the city after the shootings.
Meanwhile Juan Fonseca, former MP and head of the Discrimination bureau in Stockholm, has called on "all immigrants and ethnic Swedes" to call a five minute strike next Thursday, in support of the victims.
Gellert Tamas, the author of a renowned book about the "Laser Man" attacks told DN on Thursday that there are clear parallels.
"John Ausonius has been very clear in the interviews that I have conducted with him that he was inspired by the debate about immigrants which was conducted in the beginning of the 1990s," Tamas told DN.
"He felt a moral support, that people stood behind him. But he also felt a political support, from (populist anti-immigrant party) New Democracy primarily, but even from other political parties such as the Sweden Democrats."
Between August 1991 to January 1992, Ausonius, today 57, shot 11 people -- most of them immigrants -- in and around Stockholm. He killed one person and seriously wounded the others.
He was sentenced to life behind bars in 1994 and remains in prison.
The Local Sweden
The news comes as a further two women were hurt in a new shooting in Malmö on Thursday evening. The women, aged 26 and 34, were shot while in an apartment in the Kroksbäck neighbourhood of the city.
"They are immigrants from a European country," said Calle Persson at Skåne police.
Detective inspector Eiler Augustsson is credited with having played a decisive role in the investigation and arrest of John Ausonius, who terrorized Stockholm’s immigrant population in the beginning of the 1990s.
Ausonius received his "Laser Man" moniker because his victims were targeted with a red dot from a rifle equipped with a laser sight.
Police fear that the shootings are the latest in a wave of attacks which are deliberately targeting people of immigrant origin. A total of 50 shootings have been recorded in the city this year, and police fear a number of these may have been carried out by a lone gunman.
Aside from the two women, there was also a child in the apartment when the shootings occurred.
"The child has been taken care of, I think by relatives," Persson said.
The apartment is located on the first floor of the apartment building.
The police have completed their forensic inspection of the apartment but are as yet uncertain as to the firearm used.
"Forensic evidence has been recovered from the location," said Jesper Ingvert at Malmö police to the local Sydsvenskan daily.
While no suspects have yet been identified, police confirm that they have a witness who could have seen the perpetrator.
"We have witnesses which we have interviewed. One of the witnesses has seen a man who left the location running," said Ingvert.
Malmö police plan to review their resources on Friday morning.
"We are going to put together a team here in the morning which will look at our operation in a little longer perspective," said Peter Martinsson at Malmö police.
Integration minister Erik Ullenhag, in an opinion article in the Expressen daily on Friday, called the attacks "alarming".
"Everyone has a responsibility to defend the open society where all, regardless of background, can be safe on our streets and town squares," Ullenhag wrote.
Ullenhag plans to visit Malmö on Friday to gather information on the atmosphere in the city after the shootings.
Meanwhile Juan Fonseca, former MP and head of the Discrimination bureau in Stockholm, has called on "all immigrants and ethnic Swedes" to call a five minute strike next Thursday, in support of the victims.
Gellert Tamas, the author of a renowned book about the "Laser Man" attacks told DN on Thursday that there are clear parallels.
"John Ausonius has been very clear in the interviews that I have conducted with him that he was inspired by the debate about immigrants which was conducted in the beginning of the 1990s," Tamas told DN.
"He felt a moral support, that people stood behind him. But he also felt a political support, from (populist anti-immigrant party) New Democracy primarily, but even from other political parties such as the Sweden Democrats."
Between August 1991 to January 1992, Ausonius, today 57, shot 11 people -- most of them immigrants -- in and around Stockholm. He killed one person and seriously wounded the others.
He was sentenced to life behind bars in 1994 and remains in prison.
The Local Sweden
Wilders' inciting hatred trial enters final day (Netherlands)
Friday is the final day of the trial of anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders on inciting hatred and discrimination charges, with Wilders himself expected to take the stand later in the day.
Wilders' lawyer Bram Moszkowicz told the court on Thursday the MP's controversial statements are part of the right to free speech and the public debate.
The public prosecution department, which was forced to to take the case by the appeal court last year, has also said the MP should be found not guilty on all charges.
The judges will give their verdict on November 5.
Dutch News
Wilders' lawyer Bram Moszkowicz told the court on Thursday the MP's controversial statements are part of the right to free speech and the public debate.
The public prosecution department, which was forced to to take the case by the appeal court last year, has also said the MP should be found not guilty on all charges.
The judges will give their verdict on November 5.
Dutch News
Woman charged with hate crime against Muslims (UK)
A Burien woman has been charged with two counts of malicious harassment, the state's hate crime statute, after she allegedly yelled racial slurs and assaulted two Muslim women.
Jennifer Leigh Jennings, also known as Jennifer Leigh Adams, was charged Thursday in King County Superior Court on what happened to be her 37th birthday. Her arraignment, in which she is expected to enter a plea, is scheduled for Nov. 2.
The incident happened about 6 p.m. Saturday at an AM/PM gas station at 15252 Tukwila International Blvd. The two women -- both U.S. citizens -- were trying to pump gas into their car.
"Jennings was watching and said, 'Suicide Bomber,' and 'Hey you don't know how to pump go back to your country,'" Detective David Heckelsmiller wrote in a probable cause document.
Jennings slammed the car door on one of the woman's legs and pushed the other woman, according to police. She also allegedly kicked the first woman when she got out of the vehicle.
A Tukwila police detective viewed a recording made by a AM/PM surveillance camera and investigators are waiting for a copy to be made for the case, police spokesman Mike Murphy said Thursday.
On her way to the Tukwila police holding facility, Jennings told an officer, "Ya, I shouldn't have called them sand (expletives) or other stuff like that," according to the probable cause document.
At the holding facility, Jennings continued to be upset, telling an officer with a dark complexion, "You're only doing this because he's the same race and religion as those two ladies."
Jennings, whose criminal history includes a fourth-degree assault conviction and four convictions in the 1990s for exposing herself or illegal touching, has been released on bail.
Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of the Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he believes the incident is a symptom of the anti-Muslim hysteria being stirred up in mainstream media.
"I hope we can stand up against that kind of fear promotion that can lead to this stuff," he said. "We fear that this may just be one of the many incidents that may be happening, and people are suffering in silence."
Seattle Pi
Jennifer Leigh Jennings, also known as Jennifer Leigh Adams, was charged Thursday in King County Superior Court on what happened to be her 37th birthday. Her arraignment, in which she is expected to enter a plea, is scheduled for Nov. 2.
The incident happened about 6 p.m. Saturday at an AM/PM gas station at 15252 Tukwila International Blvd. The two women -- both U.S. citizens -- were trying to pump gas into their car.
"Jennings was watching and said, 'Suicide Bomber,' and 'Hey you don't know how to pump go back to your country,'" Detective David Heckelsmiller wrote in a probable cause document.
Jennings slammed the car door on one of the woman's legs and pushed the other woman, according to police. She also allegedly kicked the first woman when she got out of the vehicle.
A Tukwila police detective viewed a recording made by a AM/PM surveillance camera and investigators are waiting for a copy to be made for the case, police spokesman Mike Murphy said Thursday.
On her way to the Tukwila police holding facility, Jennings told an officer, "Ya, I shouldn't have called them sand (expletives) or other stuff like that," according to the probable cause document.
At the holding facility, Jennings continued to be upset, telling an officer with a dark complexion, "You're only doing this because he's the same race and religion as those two ladies."
Jennings, whose criminal history includes a fourth-degree assault conviction and four convictions in the 1990s for exposing herself or illegal touching, has been released on bail.
Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of the Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he believes the incident is a symptom of the anti-Muslim hysteria being stirred up in mainstream media.
"I hope we can stand up against that kind of fear promotion that can lead to this stuff," he said. "We fear that this may just be one of the many incidents that may be happening, and people are suffering in silence."
Seattle Pi
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