Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders relaunches controversial Prophet Muhammad cartoon competition
Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders relaunches controversial Prophet Muhammad cartoon competition
Wilders first launched the competition last year but later cancelled after provoking outrage and receiving death threats.
2 min read
Drawings of the Prophet Muhammad are widely considered disrespectful or blasphemous for Muslims [Getty]
Far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders declared he was reviving a Prophet Muhammad cartoon competition on Saturday, more than a year after cancelling a similar contest that triggered protests and death threats.
The MP and leader of the Freedom Party (PVV) invited his Twitter followers to send in satirical drawings of the Muslim prophet.
"#FreedomOfSpeech must prevail over violence and Islamic fatwas," he wrote in the post.
The event would be organised in the House of Representatives of the Dutch parliament, according to the announcement.
Islam prohibits the depiction of revered religious figures, and Muslims find drawings of the prophet to be disrespectful or outright blasphemous.
Wilders initially announced plans for the cartoon competition in 2018, a move that angered many Muslims, particularly in Pakistan.
He later cancelled after receiving death threats.
A day after he announced the cancellation, an Afghan man stabbed two American tourists at Amsterdam's main train station. The man, who said he wanted to "protect the Prophet Mohammed", was sentenced to 26 years in jail in October.
A Dutch court last month sentenced a Pakistani man to 10 years behind bars for planning to assassinate Wilders.
Wilders, known for his peroxide bouffant hairdo and extreme anti-immigration and anti-Islam statements, lives in a safe house and has been granted 24-hour protection by the Dutch state.
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