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UK parliament calls off screening controversial film

LONDON: The UK’s parliament has cancelled the screening of a controversial film, titled ‘Fitna’, by right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders following vociferous protest by the Muslim community.

The screening was to take place on January 29 at the House of Lords. The decision to cancel the showing was taken on Friday when Lord Nazir Ahmed held a meeting with the government chief whip of the House of Lords and leader of the House, together with representatives from the Muslim Council of Britain, the British Muslim Forum and other representatives from the British Muslim community.

The film has created a huge controversy around the world, especially in Europe. The decision by the Amsterdam Appeals Court, the second-highest legal authority in the country, overturns an earlier ruling by the Dutch Prosecution Service – which last June dismissed hundreds of complaints against Wilders on the grounds that his utterances had been made ‘in the context of public debate’. But on Thursday, the appeals court argued that the criminal prosecution did not conflict with Wilders’ right to freedom of expression, and said it based its decision on the standards set by the European Court of Human Rights. The Far-right Dutch politician will now be put on trial for his public statements against Islam. app

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