GEERT WILDERS REFUSED UK ENTRY VISA
PanARMENIAN.Net
11.02.2009 14:23 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A Dutch member of parliament facing prosecution
because of his anti-Islam remarks said on Tuesday that Britain had
refused him entry to the country as a threat to public security.
Geert Wilders had wanted to show a short film, "Fitna," which accuses
the Koran of inciting violence, in the British parliament, but said
the British authorities had told him he was excluded from the country.
"The secretary of state (minister) is satisfied that your statements
about Muslims and their beliefs, as expressed in your film "Fitna"
and elsewhere, would threaten community harmony and therefore public
security in the United Kingdom," Wilders told Dutch television a
letter he had received from the British government said.
Wilders faces prosecution by an Amsterdam court for inciting hatred
and discrimination.
Britain’s Home Office (Interior Ministry) declined to comment on
Wilders’ exclusion, but a spokeswoman said the government opposed
all forms of extremism.
"It will stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred and violent
messages in our communities from coming to our country," she said.
Wilders, whose film urged Muslims to tear out "hate-filled" verses
from the Koran and who has compared Islam to Nazism, said on his
party’s website Britain had sacrificed freedom of speech.
"This is something you expect in Saudi Arabia but not in Britain. I
think this cowardly position of Britain is very bad," he wrote.
The Netherlands has complained to Britain about Wilders’ exclusion on
the ground that Dutch members of parliament should be able to travel
freely in the European Union, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime
Verhagen said in a statement.
The Netherlands has condemned the film, which was aired over the
Internet last March, and distanced itself from its content, saying
the film served no other purpose than causing offence, Reuters reports.
17-minute Fitna wishes to demonstrate that the Koran, and the Islamic
culture in general, motivates its followers to hate all who violate
the Islamic teachings. Consequently, the film argues, Islam encourages,
among others, acts of terrorism, anti-Semitism, violence against women,
and Islamic universalism. A large part of the movie deals with the
influence of Islam on the Netherlands.
On March 27, 2008, Fitna was released to the Internet on the video
sharing website Liveleak in Dutch and English versions.