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You are here: Home News Dutch News Wilders to travel to London on Friday

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15/10/2009Wilders to travel to London on Friday

The Dutch politician will travel to London Friday to reschedule meeting with the House of Lords after a British court lifts entry ban.

The Hague – Far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders who made a controversial film likening Islam to Nazism will travel to London Friday after a British tribunal upheld his appeal against an entry ban, his spokeswoman said.

Wilders "will hold talks with Lord Malcolm Pearson about rescheduling his February meeting with the House of Lords" -- where he had been due to screen his anti-Islam film Fitna, Gaelle de Graaff said Wednesday.

The Freedom Party leader had been invited by Pearson to screen his film in the House of Lords, Britain's unelected upper chamber of parliament, in February.

Wilders' spokeswoman said he would "travel to London on Friday morning and return the same day".

He was sent back to the Netherlands on a plane shortly after being detained by immigration officials on arrival at London's Heathrow airport on 12 February.

Then, Britain's Home Office interior ministry said Wilders was turned back to stop him spreading "hatred and violent messages", a decision he appealed to an asylum and immigration tribunal in London which ruled in his favour on Tuesday.

The Dutch politician faces trial in the Netherlands for inciting hatred against Muslims.

Wilders described the new ruling as "a victory for freedom of speech".

However, a Home Office spokesman said Wednesday that a decision on whether he would be allowed into the country would be "taken by the individual immigration officer at the airport".

British authorities "still maintain" that Wilders' presence in the country could be damaging, the spokesman said.

"If he tries to come to this country, a decision will be made as to whether to prevent him entering based on the evidence that day."

While Britain's Home Secretary could make recommendations about whether or not to allow individuals into the country, no such action had been taken in this case.

Wilders' film Fitna, which likens Islam to Nazism and juxtaposes images of the September 11 attacks on the United States with pictures of the Koran, has been described as "offensively anti-Islamic" by UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

AFP / Expatica


1 reaction to this article

stuart577 posted: 2009-10-15 13:13:45

I DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE THINKING OF GEERT WILDERS, BUT I DO BELIEVE HE HAS THE RIGHT TO SPEAK HIS MIND OF WHAT BELIEVES.

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1 reaction to this article

stuart577 posted: 2009-10-15 13:13:45

I DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE THINKING OF GEERT WILDERS, BUT I DO BELIEVE HE HAS THE RIGHT TO SPEAK HIS MIND OF WHAT BELIEVES.

Add a comment
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