Geert Wilders Denied Entry to Britain

In a surprise reversal, the controversial film Fitna, which starkly criticizes the Koranic justifications of Radical Islam, will now be screened for the peers in the British House of Lords. The screening had initially been cancelled owing to some not-so-veiled threats and intimidation by Lord Nazir Ahmed.

However, while the 15 minute film will now be screened, the government of the United Kingdom has decided to refuse entry to the film's creator, Geert Wilders. This decision, of course, flies in the face of diplomatic and EU convention -- Wilders is an elected M.P. in the Dutch parliament and the leader of the PVV (the Netherlands' third largest political party). The government of the Netherlands is protesting the decision.

NIS has the story.

THE HAGUE, 11/02/09 - The United Kingdom has denied MP Geert Wilders entry to the country. Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen phoned his UK counterpart David Miliband yesterday to express his dissatisfaction.

Wilders, admired and loathed for his Islam criticisms, was due to visit London on Thursday at the invitation of a British Senate member. But he received a letter yesterday from the British ambassador to the Netherlands telling him he was not welcome. Reportedly his visit would constitute a threat to public order.

[...]

Wilders told reporters he would not be discouraged by the "scandalous" decision of a "bunch of cowards". He added he may still travel to London. "I am serious considering boarding the plane. Than I will just see what happens at the border," stated the leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV), currently the third biggest party in the polls.

[...]

"The United Kingdom is sacrificing freedom of speech. One might expect this in Saudi Arabia but not in the UK," said Wilders. He added his film would be shown "in the Italian parliament next week" and "in the United States in a couple of weeks". Wilders earlier showed Fitna in Israel.

Meanwhile, Wilders still faces prosecution in the Netherlands for the sundry thought crimes and hate speech allegations surrounding the film -- all predictably generated by the predictably aggrieved to be prosecuted by the predictably compliant.