Geert Wilders UK Press Conference parts 1 & 2
"I hope, once again, that the UK government will never, never turn back somebody for political reasons because they don't like what they are saying," "My aim is not to insult anybody, my aim is to defend our freedom and I believe that the more Islam we get in our free societies, the less freedom we will get."
Controversial Dutch MP Enters Britain After Winning Ban Appeal
Published 10/17/200
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(RTTNews) - Friday, controversial far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders entered Britain, just three days after he won an appeal against a British government decision banning him from entering the country over concerns that his presence would spark inter-faith violence.
Britain's Asylum and Immigration Tribunal on Tuesday upheld Wilders' appeal against the entry ban and overturned a government decision that led to Wilder being turned back at Heathrow earlier this year.
Speaking at a press conference inside the Houses of Parliament on Friday, Wilders described the decision to allow him into the country as a "victory for the freedom of speech," and said that he believed British government's argument that his presence in the country "would lead to violence" was "absurd.
"I hope, once again, that the UK government will never, never turn back somebody for political reasons because they don't like what they are saying," Wilders said.
The British government had banned Wilders from entering the country in February, indicating that his radical views on Islam could be a threat to communal harmony and public security. Wilders, who had called Koran a "fascist book," is also facing trial in The Netherlands for inciting hatred towards Muslims by making anti-Islamic statements.
Wilders had arrived in Britain on 12th February after being invited by Lord Pearson, a member of the House of Lords, to show his film Fitna, which had caused an outrage among Muslims across the world when it was posted on the internet last year. The opening footage of Wilders' controversial film shows verses of Koran, followed by footage of the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. and the bombings in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005.
"I have nothing against Muslims, I know the majority of Muslims in our society are law-abiding people," Wilders said Friday. "I have a problem with the Islamic ideology, the Islamic culture, because I believe that the more Islam we get in our free societies, the less freedom we will get."
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Added: Oct 18 2009 In: news_politics
Recorded on: Oct 17 2009
By: bellava Premium
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