Freedom of Speech versus Freedom of Religion? The Case of Dutch Politician Geert Wilders.

Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders has already been prosecuted once for incitement to hatred and group defamation over remarks and a film criticizing Islam and comparing the Quran to Hitler's Mein Kampf. He was acquitted in that earlier trial but, in December 2016, he was convicted of similar charges concerning remarks he made in March 2014 about 'fewer Moroccans' in the Netherlands. This article examines Wilders' expressions in his speeches and in the film which led to the prosecutions. The case law of the European Court of Human Rights on freedom of expression and freedom of religion will be used as a yardstick and the article analyses what would happen if these expressions were to come before that Court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]