Geert Wilders (Venlo, 6 September 1963)

• At the moment Geert Wilders is the politician who arouses most public interest in the Dutch political arena. He is the party leader and president of the parliamentary group of the Partij voor de Vrijheid (“Party for Freedom”, “PVV”). The PVV currently holds 4 seats in the European Parliament and is the fifth party in the Dutch Parliament. According to the polls, the party is heading for an enormous gain in the coming elections for Parliament.
• The PVV is particularly known for its outspoken views on immigration, integration, Islam and law and order: it has a strict approach towards crime. Among other things the party wants to end the unbridled mass immigration that puts enormous pressure on Dutch society.
• Nationally and internationally Geert Wilders is best known as a critic of Islam and advocate of the freedom of speech. He does not only warn against Islam and the danger of insidious Islamisation in the Netherlands, but also in the rest of the world. Geert Wilders considers the Islam to be an imperialistic and totalitarian politico-religious ideology that is diametrically opposed to western freedoms.
• In this context the criticism of Geert Wilders emphatically focuses on Islam as an ideology and not on Muslims.
• The trial that is currently held against Geert Wilders will show whether it is still possible for a politician in Dutch society in 2010 to offer well-founded criticism against an ideology such as Islam without being prosecuted.
• Geert Wilders is of the opinion that freedom of speech is the first aspect to be under pressure in each society in which Islam is rooted. This trial actually seems to prove him right.
• Because of his criticism aimed at Islam and the many death threats received from Islamic circles after the murder on the Dutch film director and Islam critic Theo van Gogh, Geert Wilders has been guarded heavily since 2005. This means he has lost his personal freedom. After the publication of the film Fitna, which is critical of Islam, the threats have further increased worldwide.
• You can read the speech Geert Wilders delivered at the District Court in Amsterdam on January 20th 2010 in which he gives his vision on the proceedings, Islam and the freedom of speech here.

Read Geert Wilders' speech from 20 January 2010 at the Court of Amsterdam in which he elaborates on his vision on the trial, islam and freedom of speech.