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AMSTERDAM — It has not been a good year for Ahmet Kilic. Sales are down in the store where for the last two and a half years he has sold groceries and meat, slaughtered according to halal conditions.

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AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders was acquitted of inciting hatred of Muslims in a court ruling on Thursday that may strengthen his political influence and exacerbate tensions over immigration policy.

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Geert Wilders has stepped up his anti-Islam rhetoric by describing the Prophet Mohammed as an “insane, paedophile, rapist murderer” just two weeks before the opening of his trial on charges ofinciting race hatred.

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Mr Wilders is on trial charged with inciting hatred and discriminating against Muslims. The trial was suspended when the defendant’s lawyer raised objections against the judges. The impartiality of one of the judges was questioned when it turned out he had had a private conversation about the case with a defence witness prior to the trial.

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A suspicious package has forced police officers to evacuate Muslim worshippers from a mosque in Netherlands, according to officials.
The parcel was found at a mosque located on the Bella Vista street in Almelo town in eastern Netherlands on Wednesday morning.

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Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan has shifted a pro-Geert Wilders demonstration, organised by the English Defence League, to the western port area in order to minimise the chance of riots.

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A demonstration to be held in Amsterdam by the ultranationalist English Defence League (EDL) has met with strong disapproval from Dutch anti-Islam Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. “I have no involvement with this demo, I’ve never been in touch with the EDL,” the MP told daily De Telegraaf on Tuesday

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Anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders should never have been taken to court on inciting hatred charges because he has already been found guilty, the MP’s lawyer Bram Moszkowicz said on Tuesday. Moszkowicz was outlining the defence’s case at the MP’s trial in Amsterdam.

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Far right groups modelled on the English Defence League have been set up across Europe and are planning to demonstrate in Amsterdam in support of the Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

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Wilders, a silent partner of the probable new government, is on trial in Amsterdam on charges of discrimination and inciting hatred against Muslims, Moroccans and non-Western immigrants.