The trial of Dutch MP, Geert Wilders has reconvened after the first attempt to try the politician for breaching "hate speech" laws blew up. One of the judges was found to have invited one of the defence witnesses to a private party and tried to influence his testimony. Fortunately the witness, Prof. Hans Jansen, blew the whistle.
Now there is a new panel of judges and the trial has reconvened. Wilders delivered the following statement to the court in the opening session:
The lights are going out all over Europe. All over the continent where our culture flourished and where man created freedom, prosperity and civilization. The foundation of the West is under attack everywhere.
All over Europe the elites are acting as the protectors of an ideology that has been bent on destroying us for fourteen centuries. An ideology that has sprung from the desert and that can produce only deserts because it does not give people freedom. The Islamic Mozart, the Islamic Gerard Reve [a Dutch author], the Islamic Bill Gates; they do not exist because without freedom there is no creativity. The ideology of Islam is especially noted for killing and oppression and can only produce societies that are backward and impoverished. Surprisingly, the elites do not want to hear any criticism of this ideology.
My trial is not an isolated incident. Only fools believe it is. All over Europe multicultural elites are waging total war against their populations. Their goal is to continue the strategy of mass immigration, which will ultimately result in an Islamic Europe — a Europe without freedom: Eurabia.
The lights are going out all over Europe. Anyone who thinks or speaks individually is at risk. Freedom-loving citizens who criticize Islam, or even merely suggest that there is a relationship between Islam and crime or honour killing, must suffer, and are threatened or criminalized. Those who speak the truth are in danger.
The lights are going out all over Europe. Everywhere the Orwellian thought police are at work, on the lookout for thought crimes everywhere, casting the populace back within the confines where it is allowed to think.
This trial is not about me. It is about something much greater. Freedom of speech is not the property of those who happen to belong to the elites of a country. It is an inalienable right, the birthright of our people. For centuries battles have been fought for it, and now it is being sacrificed to please a totalitarian ideology.
Future generations will look back at this trial and wonder who was right. Who defended freedom and who wanted to get rid of it.
The lights are going out all over Europe. Our freedom is being restricted everywhere, so I repeat what I said here last year:
It is not only the privilege, but also the duty of free people — and hence also my duty as a member of the Dutch Parliament — to speak out against any ideology that threatens freedom. Hence it is a right and a duty to speak the truth about the evil ideology that is called Islam. I hope that freedom of speech will emerge triumphant from this trial. I hope not only that I shall be acquitted, but especially that freedom of speech will continue to exist in the Netherlands and in Europe.
Since Wilders now has around the clock protection, following death threats and since there have been assassinations of anti-Islamic politicians in the Netherlands, refuting his assertions of the intrinsic evil of Islam as an ideology would appear to be a rather tall order. His allegations have prima facie credibility. Therefore, if convicted without the court finding at the same time that his charges and allegations against Islam are groundless, the court will have a lot of explaining to do. We understand that Wilder's defence team has a list of (Islamic) witnesses and experts prepared to support Wilder's contentions about Islam. So far the court has been reluctant to hear them.
If the court were to find Wilder's guilty for "hate speech" without at the same time finding that his allegations are false, we would appear to have reached the point where a man can be convicted and imprisoned for speaking the truth. It would also give credence to Wilder's allegations about multi-cultural elites machinating to eviscerate free speech rights. So it is not Wilders who is really on trial here. Maybe the wolves will have some sheepskins ripped off.
Hat Tip: Big Peace
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