Dutch prosecutors launched an investigation against a far-right politician who tore pages of the Muslim holy book Quran in front of their parliament building and called it a "fascist book" in January.
While desecrating Islam's holy book is not a crime in the Netherlands, prosecutors said comments that Edwin Wagensveld, leader of the Dutch branch of the far-right Pegida movement made while damaging the Quran amounted to an unlawful insult to the Muslim community.
In a written statement, the Public Prosecution Service of The Hague said his comments are suspected of breaching an article of the Dutch penal code “which states that deliberately insulting a group of people because of their religion or belief is a crime.”
The statement did not refer to Wagensveld by name, in line with Dutch privacy rules, but referred to a 54-year-old Dutch national who lives in Germany.
“The suspect will be questioned on this matter by the Dutch police,” prosecutors said.
On Twitter, Wagensveld retweeted a post by a supporter calling the action an abuse of power.
He was arrested on two previous occasions because of anti-Muslim sentiments, as recently as last October, during another rally with a small group of Pegida supporters in Rotterdam where he once again attempted to torch the Quran.
As Wagensveld tore a page out of the holy book and scrunched it up, he ranted: "Soon, there will be registrations for similar actions in several cities, time to answer disrespect from Islam with disrespect."
