Leader of Islamophobic PEGIDA group gets 40-hour unpaid work sentence for insulting Muslims

Edwin Wagensveld, head of the anti-Islam PEGIDA group, has been sentenced to unpaid work for insulting Muslims in the Netherlands.

Wagensveld, the leader of PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, was given a 40-hour unpaid work sentence for insult during his provocative act Jan. 22.

The far-right Dutch politician tore out pages from a Quran at The Hague, the administrative capital of the Netherlands.

On Twitter, Wagensveld shared a video of his provocative act which took place in front of the parliamentary building at The Hague.

But he was not sentenced for the desecration of the Quran, but for insulting the Muslim community by comparing them to Nazis.

Wegensfeld made unnecessarily hurtful statements about Muslims and he should find another way to contribute to the social debate on the influence of Islam in the Netherlands, the court said Thursday.

The Public Prosecution Office had asked the court to issue a fine of €700 ($765), but the court did not find it enough and ordered a 40-hour unpaid work sentence.

Lawyer Alper Çınar, who filed a complaint against Wagensveld on behalf of mosque administrators affiliated with the Netherlands Diyanet Foundation, confirmed to Anadolu that the far-right politician was given the sentence for his insulting remarks.

He said Reclassering Nederland will decide the type of community sentence of Wagensveld after the finalization of the sentence, adding that it could even be cleaning work at a mosque.

The court's decision is important in terms of determining the limits of freedom of expression, said Çınar.