The Cases of Wilders and Winter

www.brusselsjournal.com says. on Fri, 2009-01-23
'The Jordanian Muslim organization “The Messenger of Allah Unites Us” states that the Kingdom of Jordan is about to issue an international arrest warrant against the Dutch politician Geert Wilders “within the next ten days.” Jordan wants to put Mr. Wilders, a member of the Dutch Parliament and the leader of the Freedom Party in the Netherlands, on trial for producing Fitna, a documentary film about Koranic verses advocating violence against Jews and other non-Muslims. (See Fitna here.) Zakaria Sheikh, the chairman of “The Messenger of Allah Unites Us,” told the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant that he is happy with the decision of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal earlier this week to prosecute Mr. Wilders for “the instigation of hatred” against Muslims. “Finally the judiciary in the Netherlands has taken action against these serious crimes,” Mr. Sheikh said.

If an international arrest warrant is issued against the Dutch politician, countries which have signed an extradition treaty with Jordan will have to extradite Mr. Wilders to Jordan if they arrest him. The warrant will make it difficult for Mr. Wilders to travel abroad. The Netherlands, however, do not extradite their own citizens. The politician, who had already received death threats from Muslim fanatics for his opposition to Muslim immigration before he produced Fitna, lives under constant police protection.

Last Wednesday another European politician living under police protection following Muslim death threats, was convicted by a court in Austria to a suspended jail sentence of three months and a fine of 24,000 euros.

Susanna Winter, a member of the Austrian Parliament, came to the court room in Graz under heavy police protection to defend herself against allegations of “inciting racial hatred and degradation of religious symbols and religious agitation.” In January 2008, Mrs. Winter, a member of the Austrian Freedom Party FPÖ, said that the prophet Muhammad was “a child molester” because he married a six-year-old girl. She also said Muhammad was “a warlord” who had written the Koran during “epileptic fits.” The politician added that Islam is “a totalitarian system of domination that should be cast back to its birthplace on the other side of the Mediterranean.” She also warned for “a Muslim immigration tsunami,” saying that “in 20 or 30 years, half the population of Austria will be Muslim” if the present immigration policies continue.

Following these remarks, Muslim extremists threatened to kill Mrs. Winter, who was subsequently placed under police protection. “I do not feel guilty of racial incitement,” Mrs. Winter told the court. The judge, however, disagreed. He told the elected member of parliament: “You have only one goal: to gain votes by a despicable method, by appealing to xenophobic feelings.” The judge also argued that it is impossible to write during epileptic fits.

Despite the conviction, Mrs. Winter is allowed to retain her seat in Parliament. In Austria politicians only have to give up their seats if convicted to an effective jail sentence of at least one year. The maximum sentence Mrs. Winter could have received for her “crime” was two years in jail.

Meanwhile another European politician, Filip Dewinter of the Vlaams Belang Party in Belgium, predicts that Geert Wilders will gain electoral success as a result of the court prosecution against him. “Voters do not accept this,” he said. Mr. Dewinter’s party, the Vlaams Blok, was disbanded following a conviction for “racism” in 2004. The Vlaams Blok politicians formed a new party, Vlaams Belang, which went on to win the elections.'