Egypt's Parliament demands Dutch Parliament to refer Wilders to trial

CAIRO – 2 September 2018: Egypt’s Parliament condemned Dutch Parliamentarian, Geert Wilders, owner of the Party for Freedom, over organizing a cartoon contest offensive to Islam which is set to take place at the Dutch Parliament in November.

“This action encourages extremism, intolerance, and hatred between religions. The Egyptian Parliament has to take a strong action against the Dutch parliamentarian,” said Chairman of the Arab Affairs Committee of the Parliament, Saad el-Gamal.

Gamal added that Islam is the religion of love, tolerance, and compassion, and such reckless, childish acts will not affect it.

For his part, deputy of the Religious Affairs Committee of the Parliament, Shawky al-Gendy, demanded the Dutch Parliament speaker to refer Wilders to an urgent trial, adding that Islam calls for respecting all religions.

In the same context, secretary of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Egyptian Parliament, Tarek al-Kholy said that the committee will contact the Dutch Parliament to convey the true image of Islam.

Kholy also added that this kind of competitions aim at distorting the image of Islam to provoke the feelings of Muslims around the world.

On August 29, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry received a phone call from his Dutch counterpart, Stef Block, where Block apologized for the offensive contest and stressed that it does not represent the Dutch government and community.

In the same context, Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi filed a complaint to his Dutch counterpart on Tuesday in protest against the planned cartoon contest that offends Islam, saying "such acts spread hatred and intolerance."

The contest has sparked protests in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Islamic countries.

Also, Dutch police arrested a 26-year-old man suspected of threatening to attack far-right politician Wilders over his plan to hold a contest of cartoons depicting Islam's Prophet Mohammad, according to Reuters.

The man, whose nationality has not been determined, was taken into custody on Tuesday at Central Station in The Hague, police spokesman Jan Rensen said.