UK Parliament to Show Controversial Film Fitna

UK Parliament to Show Controversial Film Fitna

LONDON, February 10/PRNewswire/ -- Parliament has ordered extra security for a House of Lords
event with the controversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders. The private screening of
Wilders' film Fitna was initially postponed to allow time for clarification
on issues concerning freedom of speech. Despite threats of demonstration from
a British Peer and Muslim community leaders, the meeting will go ahead
Thursday 12th February.

Wilders' film Fitna features verses from the Quran alongside
images of the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001, Madrid in
March 2004 and London in July 2005. The film equates Islam's holy text with
violence and ends with a call to Muslims to remove 'hate-preaching' verses
from the Quran. It provoked protests in Muslim-majority countries including
Indonesia and Pakistan.

The leader of the Dutch Freedom Party, Wilders has lived under
24-hour police protection since 2004. Following Fitna's release online in
March 2008 al-Qaeda issued a fatwa calling for Wilders' murder.

Wilders currently faces prosecution in Holland for incitement
to hatred and discrimination. The charges are based on his film Fitna and
comments in the Dutch press last year in which he argued that as Mein Kampf
has been banned in Holland, the Quran should similarly be banned under Dutch
incitement laws.

Wilders called the Dutch Court of Appeal's decision to
prosecute an attack on freedom of expression. "Participation in the public
debate has become a dangerous activity. If you give your opinion, you risk
being prosecuted," he said.

The court ruled that prosecution does not conflict with
Wilders' right to freedom of speech. "Statements which create hate and grief
made by politicians, taken their special responsibility into consideration,
are not permitted according to European standards," the court said in a
statement.

The House of Lords event, originally scheduled for January,
was not postponed in response to the threats made by the British Peer, Lord
Ahmed. However, Lord Ahmed told the Pakistani press that the decision to stop
the screening was "a victory for the Muslim community".

Following the private screening there will be a press
conference:

"The Quran and Freedom of Speech"

A screening of Fitna (2008 - 17 mins)

Q&A with Geert Wilders MP (Holland)

No. 1 Abbey Gardens

Thursday 12th February

6:00 - 7:00pm

Notes to editor:

1.) The House of Lords event is hosted by Lord Pearson, a UKIP Peer with
a special interest in the European Union, Islamism and education. It will be
chaired by Baroness Cox, a crossbench Peer and a human rights campaigner with
a strong commitment to humanitarian aid and education; she is a founder of
The International Islamic Christian Organisation for Reconciliation and
Reconstruction.

Source: Lord Pearson of Rannoch

Lord Pearson of Rannoch, Telephone: +44(0)207-735-3170, E-mail: peersandmps@aol.com

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