Wilders’ film on Koran to be shown on internet

7 January 2008

THE HAGUE – The film on the Koran by Freedom Party PVV leader Geert Wilders will in any event be able to be viewed on the internet. He will put the film on his party’s website as well as YouTube.

Wilders is still in talks with current events programme NOVA regarding airing the film on television.

"They first want to see the film. And they can, as soon as it’s done. They will have to air it in its entirety," Wilders said on Saturday after a report in the Telegraaf. "The film will be on our site and YouTube in any event."

Wilders says it is not an option to broadcast the film in the 3 minutes of air time allotted to each political party. He estimates that the film will be about 10 minutes long. It is still being worked on at the moment. Wilders expects that the film will be ready at the end of January. The presentation will be a bit later.

When it will be presented depends to some degree on who will be airing the film. "In the worst case, if no one wants to broadcast it, I will show it to the media at [international press centre] Nieuwspoort."

Wilders hopes the film will demonstrate that the Koran, the holy book revered by Muslims, is a "terrible and fascist" book that continues to inspire people to commit atrocious acts. The cabinet voiced its concerns last November about possible repercussions that the film could have in the Netherlands and abroad.

The police are also preparing for this possibility. The Amsterdam chief of police Bernard Welten said this week that the police are holding talks about Wilders’ film with imams and other leaders from the Muslim community. They are discussing possibilities for minimising the commotion on the street that could result.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2008]

Subject: Dutch news