Dutch Pegida leader will appear in court over swastika

Edwin Wagensveld with the offensive banner. Photo: By Apdency (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
Edwin Wagensveld with the controversial banner. Photo: Apdency via Wikimedia Commons
Edwin Wagensveld, leader of the Dutch branch of the anti-Islamic movement Pegida, will appear in court on September 8 for showing a swastika on a banner during a demonstration outside Amsterdam’s city hall.

Officials had said ahead of the rally that nazi symbols were banned. The swastika and an IS flag were shown on the banner being thrown into a waste bin.

The public prosecution department had offered to settle out of court with a €250 fine but Wagensveld rejected the deal.

Earlier this year Wagensveld was revealed to have been ‘hunting’ for refugees on the Bulgarian border with Turkey.

Pegida, whose name is a German acronym for ‘Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West’ was formed in Dresden in 2014, and has since expanded to other European countries.

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