A Dutch court has acquitted the rightwing politician Geert Wilders of hate charges, saying his claims that Islam is violent by nature, and his calls for a ban on Muslim immigration and the Qur'an, always fell within the bounds of legitimate political debate even if they were offensive to many Muslims. The court found his rhetoric was "on the edge of what is legally permissible". Wilders, the leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV), the third-largest political party in the Netherlands, argued his statements represented the views of millions of voters and that the charges were politically motivated. AP Amsterdam