Edwin Wagensveld

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Edwin Wagensveld
Edwin Wagensveld.jpg
Wagensveld in 2016
Born1969
CitizenshipNetherlands
Organization Pegida

Edwin Wagensveld (born 1969) [1] is a Dutch anti-Islam activist, convicted criminal and leader of Pegida Netherlands. [2] [3] [4] He has managed to "create a spectacle generating broad media coverage" with his anti-Islam protests and Quran desecrations. [5]

Contents

Activities

Wagensveld has been the leader of Pegida Netherlands since November 2014, at a time when he owned a small internet-based business selling non-lethal weapons, self-defence articles and outdoors products. [1] [6] He had previously that year participated in a Hogesa demonstration. [1] He lives in Germany close to the Dutch border, and commutes to the Netherlands to stage demonstrations, and is a staunch supporter of Geert Wilders. [1] In 2016, he was revealed to have been patrolling for refugees on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey with Tatjana Festerling. [7] [8]

In April 2018, Wagensveld was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for tax evasion. [8]

He was investigated by Dutch police for tearing out pages of the Quran and calling it a "fascist book" in January 2023 in front of the Dutch parliament building. [3] His desecrations of the Quran contributed to the diplomatic Quran crisis that year. [3] In August, he trampled on and tore up a Quran outside the Turkish embassy in The Hague. [9] During his subsequent trial in November, he tore apart another copy of the Quran. [4] He was sentenced to forty hours of community service. [10] In January 2024, he was violently attacked during a demonstration in Arnhem after he tried to burn a Quran. [11] In March, he was arrested in Arnhem for pulling a Quran on a dog leash. [12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Berntzen, Lars Erik (2019). Liberal Roots of Far Right Activism: The Anti-Islam Movement in the 21st Century. Routledge. p. 173. ISBN   9781000707960.
  2. ↑ Heller, Albert; van der Vegt, Eric (12 January 2024). "Wie is Edwin Wagensveld, de man die Marcouch wil provoceren door een koran in hartje Arnhem te verbranden?". de Gelderlander (in Dutch).
  3. 1 2 3 "Dutch prosecutors investigate activist who desecrated Quran". Associated Press. 14 April 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Far-right leader tears up Koran during trial in the Netherlands". The Brussels Times. 9 November 2023.
  5. ↑ Bracke, Sarah; Aguilar, Luis Manuel Hernández, eds. (2023). The Politics of Replacement: Demographic Fears, Conspiracy Theories, and Race Wars. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   9781003813095.
  6. ↑ Vorländer, Hans; Herold, Maik; Schäller, Steven (2018). PEGIDA and New Right-Wing Populism in Germany. Springer. p. 16. ISBN   9783319674957.
  7. ↑ "Dutch Pegida leader will appear in court over swastika". DutchNews. 18 August 2016.
  8. 1 2 Schmidt, Gisela; Schneider, Alexander (27 April 2018). "„Ed, der Holländer" verurteilt". Sächsische (in German).
  9. ↑ "Qur'an ripped up during far-right protest in Netherlands". Arab News. 19 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Pegida-voorman Edwin Wagensveld veroordeeld tot taakstraf om koranbelediging". NU (in Dutch). 23 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "Pegida-voorman belaagd bij koranverbranding in Arnhem". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 13 January 2024.
  12. ↑ "Pegida-voorman Edwin Wagensveld aangehouden in rechtbank Arnhem". NOS (in Dutch). 27 March 2024.
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