Making all the appointments
Today the Amsterdam court ruled in the set-up of the resumed Wilders trial. There were two issues. One was the issue of the witnesses that Mr. Wilders had requested and another was that Justice Tom Schalken would be heard on his supper with witness Hans Jansen. This is the supper which caused Wilders' first trial session to be declared invalid and to be redone.
The matter of the 18 original witnesses.
Wilders had originally requested that 18 witnesses for the defense would be heard, amongst them Mohammed Bouyeri, the assassin of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. 15 of the 18 witnesses were turned down in the first trial session. Well, the 15 witnesses were turned down again today by the new judge.
The matter of Justice Schalken
The first trial session was suspended when it turned out that one of the Justices who had ordered the trial of Wilders for hate speech, discrimination and racism had appeared to try to influence witness Hans Jansen. Mr. Wilders' defense had asked that Justice Tom Schalken would be heard as a witness. Also he asked for the host of the supper, Bertus Hendriks, to be heard as a witness. These requests were granted.
Conclusion, the trade-off
The score seems to be 1-1. One point for the prosecution and one for the defense of Wilders. My take is that the Court views this as a trade. They have sacrificed a smaller value for a bigger value. The smaller value is the reputation of the Judiciary. The court is willing to have some brother-judges to be humiliated and having the impartiality of the courts questioned. The bigger value to be protected is the protection of Islam. The 15 witnesses that Wilders' defense had asked for would have given the public the opportunity to learn about Islam as it is seen by its adherents. It would have exposed this political and expansionist ideology for what it is and was. The protection of Islam is so important for the court that they are willing to catch flak for it.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Most of emigrants from the Netherlands were from immigrant stock
Immigrants are leaving
Esther's Islam in Europe blog featured an article on 28 January on emigration from The Netherlands. Between 2001 and 2010 there was a wave of emigration from The Netherlands to other countries. Two-thirds of the emigrants were not ethnically Dutch. These emigrants were both Western foreigners and Non-Westerners. In Esther's words:
Is the Netherlands saved from being swamped by Muslims?
Sounds like good news for the nationalist Dutch in The Netherlands. However a question remains. Of the two-thirds immigrant stock who move away from The Netherlands, how many are Western and how many are not?
When one downloads the report Dutch emigration (Dutch) and looks at the figures one can find the following.
The figures for Muslim emigration
Annually in the years between 2001 and 2010 about a 100.000 people left The Netherlands. In 2006 it was even 130.000 on a 16 million population. So that is half a percent or even close two a percent of the total population. The report gives figures for the group of between 20 and 45 year olds. That is the age most people work and have children. In 2009 2,149 young Turks, 1,444 young Maroccans, 454 young Afghans and 977 young Iraqis left The Netherlands. Around 5,000 Muslims in all. The total number of Muslims in the Netherlands is about 5.5 percent of the population or about 850,000 people (Dutch). About half a percent of them are leaving especially the better educated ones. This sigificantly lowers the birth rate of Turks and Moroccans. The Turkish birth rate is 2.12 and the Moroccan 2.93 percent. In absolute numbers it is nearly 15,000 per year. The conclusion is that the total number of Turks and Moroccans emigrating out of The Netherlands was about one third of their births. Their population would actually decline in the long run.
What works against the Dutch
Because ethnic Dutch women have a birth rate of 1.6 percent, the number of Dutch people is declining more quickly though. Also since 2008 the number of immigrants has been rising.
In the abovementioned numbers I left out the Muslims in The Netherlands who are not Turks or Moroccans. I did a quick calculation and I think it leaves the core of my argument unaffected.
In conclusion
But the conclusion is that with a small increase in the native birthrate. A closed borders policy. Plus a harsh, but not even slightly violent attitude towards the Muslims it may be possible to assure continued dominance of the ethnic Dutch within their established borders.
Esther's Islam in Europe blog featured an article on 28 January on emigration from The Netherlands. Between 2001 and 2010 there was a wave of emigration from The Netherlands to other countries. Two-thirds of the emigrants were not ethnically Dutch. These emigrants were both Western foreigners and Non-Westerners. In Esther's words:
Netherlands: Immigrants make up two thirds of emigrants
Two thirds of emigrants from The Netherlands are of immigrant origin. They're tired of the intolerance and see better career opportunities in their land of origin. Highly educated Moroccan or Turkish youth leave the Netherlands due to the harsh political climate. Though it's not a mass emigration, these groups of immigrants say 'increasing intolerance' is a reason for leaving.
Is the Netherlands saved from being swamped by Muslims?
Sounds like good news for the nationalist Dutch in The Netherlands. However a question remains. Of the two-thirds immigrant stock who move away from The Netherlands, how many are Western and how many are not?
When one downloads the report Dutch emigration (Dutch) and looks at the figures one can find the following.
The figures for Muslim emigration
Annually in the years between 2001 and 2010 about a 100.000 people left The Netherlands. In 2006 it was even 130.000 on a 16 million population. So that is half a percent or even close two a percent of the total population. The report gives figures for the group of between 20 and 45 year olds. That is the age most people work and have children. In 2009 2,149 young Turks, 1,444 young Maroccans, 454 young Afghans and 977 young Iraqis left The Netherlands. Around 5,000 Muslims in all. The total number of Muslims in the Netherlands is about 5.5 percent of the population or about 850,000 people (Dutch). About half a percent of them are leaving especially the better educated ones. This sigificantly lowers the birth rate of Turks and Moroccans. The Turkish birth rate is 2.12 and the Moroccan 2.93 percent. In absolute numbers it is nearly 15,000 per year. The conclusion is that the total number of Turks and Moroccans emigrating out of The Netherlands was about one third of their births. Their population would actually decline in the long run.
What works against the Dutch
Because ethnic Dutch women have a birth rate of 1.6 percent, the number of Dutch people is declining more quickly though. Also since 2008 the number of immigrants has been rising.
In the abovementioned numbers I left out the Muslims in The Netherlands who are not Turks or Moroccans. I did a quick calculation and I think it leaves the core of my argument unaffected.
In conclusion
But the conclusion is that with a small increase in the native birthrate. A closed borders policy. Plus a harsh, but not even slightly violent attitude towards the Muslims it may be possible to assure continued dominance of the ethnic Dutch within their established borders.
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Wilders trial resumes
Hate Speech Trial against Wilders part 2
I just happened to find out that the trial against Mr. Geert Wilders for Hate Speech (Dutch) is about to be resumed. Already next Monday there will be a first session of the re-trial against the leader of the PVV or Freedom Party. This will be a planning session on which the dates will be planned for the sessions of the new trial.
New witnesses
For the first trial Geert Wilders had asked for hearings for 18 witnesses. The court turned down 15 of these witnesses. For the new trial Geert Wilder's defense Bram Moszkowicz made a new request for having the 15 witnesses heard by the Court. The three original witnesses will also be heard again. Another new witness is to be heard. That is Justice Tom Schalken (Dutch), one of the three judges who ordered the trial and who tried to influence the witness for Geert Wilders' defense Hans Jansen. When the news that Justice Schalken tried to influence Hans Jansen came out it caused the original October trial to stall.
On 14 February the final decisions for the planning of the trial will be taken.
A well-prepared court
The website of the courts rechtspraak.nl has announced that the new trial will be done with new judges, who will be better prepared to deal with the intense media scruteny for the trial. Additionally the substitution court will be staffed by judges from the Haarlem court in order to avoid having a substitution court with judges who have friendly relations with the trial judges having to substitute the latter. This caused intense recriminations between judges after the trial within the Amsterdam Court.
The charges against Wilders
The Public Prosecution (OM) has announced it will demand a "not guilty" for hate speech and discrimination for Mr. Wilders. Despite this the judges may still convict Geert Wilders on those charges, but this is not so likely.
I just happened to find out that the trial against Mr. Geert Wilders for Hate Speech (Dutch) is about to be resumed. Already next Monday there will be a first session of the re-trial against the leader of the PVV or Freedom Party. This will be a planning session on which the dates will be planned for the sessions of the new trial.
New witnesses
For the first trial Geert Wilders had asked for hearings for 18 witnesses. The court turned down 15 of these witnesses. For the new trial Geert Wilder's defense Bram Moszkowicz made a new request for having the 15 witnesses heard by the Court. The three original witnesses will also be heard again. Another new witness is to be heard. That is Justice Tom Schalken (Dutch), one of the three judges who ordered the trial and who tried to influence the witness for Geert Wilders' defense Hans Jansen. When the news that Justice Schalken tried to influence Hans Jansen came out it caused the original October trial to stall.
On 14 February the final decisions for the planning of the trial will be taken.
A well-prepared court
The website of the courts rechtspraak.nl has announced that the new trial will be done with new judges, who will be better prepared to deal with the intense media scruteny for the trial. Additionally the substitution court will be staffed by judges from the Haarlem court in order to avoid having a substitution court with judges who have friendly relations with the trial judges having to substitute the latter. This caused intense recriminations between judges after the trial within the Amsterdam Court.
The charges against Wilders
The Public Prosecution (OM) has announced it will demand a "not guilty" for hate speech and discrimination for Mr. Wilders. Despite this the judges may still convict Geert Wilders on those charges, but this is not so likely.
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