Video: Geert Wilders opening words in court

Europe News carries video and translation of the Geert Wilders’ opening statement in his trial where he is accused of hate crimes. He quotes Thomas Jefferson and argues that his opposition is not to Muslims, but to Islam as being an ideology opposed to freedom.  He pleads for a fair trial with the opportunity to present all his witnesses. The video runs just over 6 minutes.

Leon DeWinter writing at the Wall Street Journal on Jan. 26, 2010: Stop the Trial of Geert Wilders: A Dutch court is forced to compare Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ and the Quran.
“What started as a trial against Geert Wilders for alleged Islamophobia has nearly turned into its opposite: a historical case about the message of the Quran. The Amsterdam court trying the controversial Dutch politician is now preoccupied with the question of whether this book, sacred to more than a billion believers, can be compared to one of the most vile publications in the history of Western civilization—Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.” What could possibly go wrong? . . . ”

Ed West writing at the Telegraph: Geert Wilders is not ‘far Right’
“What Americans – or anyone else who’s somehow missed Europe’s slide towards diversity authoritarianism . . . “