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Ärende: Liberalism
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Liberalism at its finest.....

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NETHERLANDS_PEDOPHILES?SITE=7219&SECTION
=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-07-17-08-00-57

Dutch Court OKs 'Pedophile' Political Party

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press Writer

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- A Dutch court refused Monday to ban a political
party whose main goal is to lower the age of sexual consent from 16 to 12. The
judge said it was the voters' right to judge the appeal of political parties.

The party has only three known members, one of whom was convicted of molesting
an 11-year-old boy in 1987. Widely dubbed the "pedophile" party, it is unlikely
ever to win a seat in parliament. The group would need around 60,000 votes, and
pollsters estimate it would get fewer than 1,000.

Opponents had asked The Hague District Court to bar the party from registering
for national elections in November, arguing that children have the right not to
be confronted with the party's platform.

"Freedom of expression, freedom ... of association, including the freedom to
set up a political party, can be seen as the basis for a democratic society,"
Judge H. Hofhuis said in his ruling.




"These freedoms give citizens the opportunity to, for example, use a political
party to appeal for change to the constitution, law, or policy."

He noted that the PNVD party, the Dutch abbreviation of Brotherly Love, Freedom
and Diversity, had not committed a crime, but was calling for a change in the
law.

"It is the right of the voter to judge the appeal of political parties," he
said.

The party sparked outrage when it proclaimed its existence in late May, but
prosecutors declined to prosecute its members as a threat to public order.

"We expected this result," said party treasurer Ad van den Berg, 62. "We are
not doing anything illegal so there is no reason to ban us."

Van den Berg was fined and given a suspended prison sentence for molesting an
11-year-old boy in 1987. After his background became known last month, he was
chased from the trailer park where he lived in the city of Oostvoorne.

Anke de Wijn, an attorney representing the party's opponents, said the group
was abusing Dutch tolerance.

"Victims feel hurt by the wish of pedophiles to make their desires known in
public," De Wijn said. "There are few limitations on free speech, and that's
good, but this group is making misuse of the privilege, to provoke."

The PNVD's known members were a president, a secretary and a treasurer, as
required under Dutch law. In order to stand in elections scheduled for Nov. 22,
it will have to submit a list of candidates and the signatures of at least 30
supporters to get on the ballot in any one of the country's 19 voting
districts.

Ireen van Engelen of the Solace Foundation, which researches pedophilia, said
the party likely would fail to register for the elections because pedophiles
seek anonymity.

"They will never want to connect their name to the party and without the
signatures they can't go in the elections," she said.

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