A controversial Dutch politician has been denied entry into Britain and sent back to the Netherlands after trying to enter the country to show his anti-Muslim film in the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament. Geert Wilders had been invited to London by British parliamentarians to show his 17-minute film ‘Fitna’, which criticizes Islam and calls the Koran a "fascist book''. Earlier this week, Jacqui Smith, the British home secretary, refused Wilders entry because his opinions "would threaten community security and therefore public security'' in the UK.
Nonetheless, Wilders went ahead with his trip and flew from Amsterdam to London on Thursday. He arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport to be met by officers from the UK Border Agency, as well as the Dutch ambassador to Britain. As he was being led away, to be put on a return flight, the populist Dutch policitian Wilders said: "I am not nervous, but is this how Great Britain welcomes a democrat?''
Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen later criticized the British government for refusing entry to Wilders, and said he would press for a reversal of the travel ban. "It is highly regrettable that a Dutch MP should be denied entry to another EU country,'' he said. Earlier on the flight, Wilders had called the British Government “the biggest bunch of cowards in Europe…I am coming because I am invited by one of your members of Parliament. I am not provocative. I am an elected representative. I use my freedom of speech.''
In the past, Wilders urged the Dutch government to ban the Koran. His film sparked violent protests around the Muslim world last year for linking verses in the text with footage of terrorist attacks.
