Pegida frontman gets suspended sentence for comparing Muslims to Nazis

The court of appeals in The Hague has sentenced Pegida frontman Edwin Wagensveld to a conditionally suspended community service of 40 hours for group insult. The frontman for the radical far-right group had compared Muslims to Nazis. He was not present at the court on Tuesday.

“With his comments, the suspect has hurt a large group of people willingly,” said the chair of the court. “There is no place in our society for this where freedom of religion and equality are among the most important core values.”

The court sentenced Wagensveld (56) to 40 hours of community service last year, and a fine was also issued. This was due to an incident on 22 January 2023 near the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament. He tore a Quran before a camera and jumped on the ripped pages. During the appeal hearing last month, Wagensveld said that his Nazi comparison was only referring to Salafists, the fundamentalist movement within Islam that takes the Koran literally.

Purposely insulting a group of people for their religion or faith is punishable by law. Ripping up a Quran does not fall under this, as it is seen as a criticism of faith.

A community service sentence of 40 hours was recommended against Wagensveld. Still, the court felt a conditionally suspended community service was more appropriate because its height should not deter people from exercising their right to freedom of expression.