# Geert Wilders is facing trial for Fitna **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 1, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geert-wilders-is-facing-trial-for-fitna/527285 "2010-02-01T20:16:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geert-wilders-is-facing-trial-for-fitna/527285/81 "2010-02-05T06:28:16Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > That said, it’s Wilders’s every right to express his opinion even if it’s stupid, and I personally do tend towards hoping that he’ll be acquitted (and I think he might be). Also, the Dutch democracy has taken a sad turn for the worse now that prominent politicians such as Wilders (but not only him, to be sure) need round the clock protection to make sure they’re not gutted like Van Gogh (who didn’t believe he needed protection) was. Why do you think politicians need round the clock protection? ---
**Author:** ![Marienee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Marienee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marienee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geert-wilders-is-facing-trial-for-fitna/527285/82 "2010-02-05T08:37:18Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Why do you think politicians need round the clock protection? There are several members of the Dutch royal house and also some ten or twenty politicians who get around the clock protection from the state. Wilders is one – he is moved to a different location every night, he cannot have unscreened visitors, and he sees his wife about once a week. It is more common for politicians to get protection for shorter periods of time, but Wilders’ protection has gone on for years now. ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geert-wilders-is-facing-trial-for-fitna/527285/83 "2010-02-05T13:02:22Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Why do you think politicians need round the clock protection? well, there seems to have developed a culture of threathening people you don’t agree with in the Netherlands; which happens from all sides. Of course, most actual incidents (murders of Fortuyn and Van Gogh) are not announced beforehand, but these events have made personal security a more important issue. Lately it seems that whenever somebody takes one side or the other in the immigration/Wilders debate, he ends up being threathened by someone or the other. Don’t forget that after the killing of Fortuyn (by an environmentalist, not a muslim) some left-wing politicians got threatened (bullit-letters) and needed protection because Fortuyn’s followers believed that the harsh opposition from the left was to blame for the murder. Two days ago a crime reporter (Peter R. de Vries) was on a talkshow and said that he gets numerous e-mails threathening him and his family very time he says anything (negative) about Wilders - appearantly this is so prevalent that most public figures refrain from saying anything at all. On the other side, the fact that Wilders is being moved and protected on a daily basis, shows that it is just as bad (if not worse) on the other side. It is just a bit hypocritical that Wilders, who plays the victim (which he is) of living under protection, fails to ever denounce the people from his side that feel the need to threathen anyone who goes against Wilders. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geert-wilders-is-facing-trial-for-fitna/527285/84 "2010-02-05T14:27:15Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#): > > It is just a bit hypocritical that Wilders, who plays the victim (which he is) of living under protection, fails to ever denounce the people from his side that feel the need to threathen anyone who goes against Wilders. You’re off the ball there, **football…** (ETA: pun not initially intended, but approved upon later realization). I can recall numerous occasions when Wilders spoke out against those threatening for instance attorney Gerard Spong who brought a law suit against Wilders (cite: [nu.nl](http://www.nu.nl/algemeen/1907723/wilders-op-de-bres-voor-spong.html)), and Peter R. de Vries for criticizing him. Still, you are right to tell **Magiver** that while Wilders’s case is an extreme one (as was Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s - remember her :)) politicians and public figures all over the political spectrum are being threatened. It even became something of a status symbol, as became clear when police found out that someone in the LPF party organization had faxed a death threat to himself 😃 Unfortunately, though, due to our sad history a lot of those threats that are not issued by people against themselves need to be taken seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geert-wilders-is-facing-trial-for-fitna/527285/85 "2010-02-05T19:45:48Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > It even became something of a status symbol, as became clear when police found out that someone in the LPF party organization had faxed a death threat to himself 😃 So was that a suicide attempt? 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geert-wilders-is-facing-trial-for-fitna/527285.md?page=4)