Pegida leader gets community service for insulting Muslims, not for tearing up the Quran | Domestic

The Public Prosecution Service demanded a fine of 700 euros for this two weeks ago. The court in The Hague decided differently and imposed 40 hours of community service on him. The judge felt that a fine would not provide sufficient justice, because a large group of people had been offended.

On January 22, Wagensveld held an action near the House of Representatives in which he tore up a Koran in front of a camera and compared Muslims to Nazis. Intentionally insulting a group of people because of their religion or belief is punishable. Tearing up a Quran is not – that is considered criticism of faith.

Two weeks ago, Wagensveld also tore up a Quran on the sidewalk of the court prior to the court hearing. During the hearing itself, he also tore pages from the holy book, before leaving the courtroom prematurely. Wagensveld was not present at the verdict on Thursday.

Wagensveld has been demonstrating against Islam for years. He has torn or burned Qurans several times in recent months. In the Netherlands, destroying religious books is seen as criticism of faith and is not punishable. But when he did the same before the temporary House of Representatives on January 22 of this year, he gave a speech. In it he stated ‘that followers (of Islam, ed.) follow the same ideology as Hitler and everyone knows what that has led to in the Netherlands’. The Public Prosecution Service sees this as a group insult to believers (in this case Muslims) and that is punishable.

The video that a fellow activist made of his action in January went around the world and caused angry reactions. A few hundred people took part in a protest in The Hague. In Istanbul, the Dutch consulate had to be temporarily closed due to the threat of an attack. Dutch flags were burned in Lebanon and Afghanistan. Ultimately, six Dutch mosque boards filed a complaint against Wagensveld.

“Wagensveld is not on trial for tearing up a book, but for suggesting that Muslims want the same thing as what Hitler did in the Netherlands during the Second World War. That was different from what he said at previous demonstrations and with this he crossed the criminal limit of insult,” the public prosecutor said in court two weeks ago. A statement can be part of the public debate during a demonstration, but the judiciary finds Wagensveld’s statements ‘unnecessarily offensive’. “Wagensveld often pushes the boundaries of freedom of expression. But it was often limited to criticism of faith. Not anymore.”