Edwin Wagensveld, the leader of the Dutch branch of Pegida, has appeared in this space a number of times, most recently here. Mr. Wagensveld has gotten into trouble on multiple occasions for burning and/or tearing up Korans in public spaces, and for his public utterances on those actions.
He was prosecuted for one of his public utterances, in which he compared devotees of the Koran to Hitler. That was considered a form of “group insult” by the Dutch judicial system.
The following interview with Edwin Wagensveld was recorded before the verdict in his case was handed down. Since then, according to the NL Times (hat tip Reader from Chicago), “The court of appeals in The Hague has sentenced Pegida frontman Edwin Wagensveld to a conditionally suspended community service of 40 hours for group insult.”
Many thanks to the anonymous translator, and to Vlad Tepes and RAIR Foundation for the subtitling:
Video transcript:
| 00:00 | And although there are still a hundred to go, I will keep going until it is | |
| 00:05 | finally possible in the Netherlands just to tear up a Koran under the | |
| 00:08 | guise of freedom of expression. | |
| 00:14 | Edwin, today you are in appeals court, you are accused of group insult. | |
| 00:19 | What is this all about? —Well, it’s about, as we hear all the time in the debate, | |
| 00:25 | when it comes to migration or Islam. Then there are certain groups with longer legs than others. | |
| 00:31 | And the OM responds quite badly to that. We also saw it recently, of course, | |
| 00:34 | with the member of the BBB, who said something in a broadcast on OP1. It’s just very sad | |
| 00:43 | that some people don’t dare to go into that discussion, because they probably can’t. | |
| 00:47 | I said, supporters of the Koran, when people really hang on to the Koran, | |
| 00:51 | those are people who follow the same ideology as Hitler. | |
| 00:54 | But when you say things like that, are you open to a discussion? Or is it all about provocation? | |
| 01:00 | I’m still on the street, I’m reachable, | |
| 01:03 | I’m on Twitter, you can ask me questions. Where are these people? | |
| 01:06 | They hide behind reports. That’s what, or they hide behind violence. | |
| 01:10 | You’ve been there in Arnhem. | |
| 01:15 | Police! | |
| 01:21 | Police! —So yes, I’m tearing up | |
| 01:24 | such a hate book here again. Because I think it’s allowed in the Netherlands. | |
| 01:27 | When you can’t stand it, you have to go to an Islamic country. | |
| 01:30 | But not here, we have a freedom of expression here that is under enormous pressure. | |
| 01:33 | But you’re going to tear up a Koran again. | |
| 01:36 | What’s the purpose of that? —To show that there are texts in there, | |
| 01:41 | in which there is no violence. In which it just says that these people are only for one purpose. | |
| 01:44 | And that is only Islam. And everything else, there is no place for that. | |
| 01:48 | We also see that in countries where Islam prevails. | |
| 01:51 | Does it serve a kind of business interest for you? What then? | |
| 01:54 | By demonstrating in this way every time. I don’t earn anything then. | |
| 01:57 | You are paid here. You are the only one here, together with your cameraman | |
| 02:01 | and other people, who are paid here. —I’m not doing anything for you, at my own expense. | |
| 02:04 | No, you say business interest. —I’m not going to smear myself, | |
| 02:07 | because I’m unemployed, so nothing at all. | |
| 02:10 | Everything has already been destroyed. The only one who experiences disadvantages here is me. | |
| 02:14 | Because people always buy certain things. | |
| 02:17 | And I have not sold sharp weapons or anything like that. | |
| 02:20 | Especially software and things like that. That is really not a business interest. | |
| 02:23 | But I am not the one who earns from it. I have already invested a lot of money here. | |
| 02:27 | I drove home at 5:30 this morning. That costs me a lot of money. | |
| 02:31 | So that someone says business interest. That is really the lowest of the lowest. | |
| 02:34 | The weapon industry simply has an interest in it. If there is fear among a population, | |
| 02:38 | if there is fear. Because that population will then possibly buy weapons to defend themselves. | |
| 02:43 | It is not a crazy question that I ask if you have a business interest in that. | |
| 02:46 | No, but if the weapon industry would be interested in that. | |
| 02:50 | Then there is still a core reason why they sell those weapons. And why people would be afraid. | |
| 02:54 | Because there is something. —The burning of Korans, what did it yield? —The discussion. | |
| 02:59 | We see a whole discussion. We suddenly have a discussion in the House of Representatives | |
| 03:03 | and everywhere. But that discussion is about you, about your actions. —No, it’s also about banning. | |
| 03:07 | And a lot of people wake up to that. Because a lot of people say, | |
| 03:10 | you see. That is always what they have called for. | |
| 03:13 | Our freedom of expression is being limited. | |
| 03:19 | And although there are still a hundred broken. | |
| 03:22 | I will continue until it is finally possible in the Netherlands. | |
| 03:27 | Just to tear up a Koran under the guise of freedom of expression. | |
| 03:30 | Do you want a lighter? —That does not matter. | |
| 03:33 | I am a Muslim, too. Even a lighter? | |
| 03:36 | Yes, give him a lighter. Why? It does not matter. He is just pitiful. | |
| 03:40 | He is sick. The meeting is now over. | |
| 03:43 | In thirteen days, the judge will hand down a verdict. | |
| 03:46 | Yes, I could say my word, right? And I only hear from people that they all say well said. | |
| 03:53 | Yes, and furthermore, it remains an interpretation of how you perceive the words or not. | |
| 03:57 | And yes, words that I did not say, I would have said. | |
| 04:01 | That’s it, actually. Where I am suspected of saying, we have all Muslims. | |
| 04:08 | I did not even have the word Muslims in my mouth. | |
| 04:11 | So yes, then it is an interpretation of how you feel. | |
| 04:14 | Do you have the confidence? —No. —And why did you file an appeal with the appeals court? | |
| 04:18 | Because I want awareness of what Islamization means. That it means a lot | |
| 04:22 | for our freedom of expression. | |
| 04:25 | And show people that people continue to fight against this evil ideology. | |
| 04:32 | I do not care whether I am convicted or not. |
For links to previous articles about PEGIDA (Patriotische Europäer Gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West) and related movements, see the PEGIDA Archives.
He probably would care if they started cutting off his head with a bread knife. I wish him well and hope he doesn’t neglect his safety. We can expect a full-fledged civil war over this anyway and there’s better times to die a hero after your people have woken up. Godspeed!