The anti-immigration party PVV has withdrawn calls for an emergency parliamentary debate after it emerged that a controversial imam did not call for its party leader Geert Wilders to be whipped.

The AD newspaper reported that New Yorker Khalid Yasin had called for Wilders to be given a ‘traditional punishment such as a whipping’ during a speech in Rotterdam on Friday.
But later it emerged that Yasin said in English that Wilders deserved a ‘judicial slap on the wrist’ for making his 10-minute anti-Islam film Fitna.
Incorrrect translation
The incorrect translation led to calls from the PVV and the Rotterdam political party Leeftbaar Rotterdam at the weekend for Yasin to be expelled.
The AD has not explained how its reporter came to make such a simple translation error.
Last week the PVV and other parties called for Yasin to be banned from the Netherlands for his fundamentalist views on women, non-Muslims and homosexuals.
But in an interview with tv station RTL, Yasin said his statements had been taken out of context.
The imam was due to give a second speech in Rotterdam on Sunday.
On Sunday night, a Maurice de Hond opinion poll said Wilders’ PVV would win 20 seats in parliament if there was a general election now. The party currently has nine MPs in the 150-seat lower house.
Last week, an Amsterdam court said Wilders should face charges for inciting hatred and discrimination.
For the comments on Wilders, click here
For an exclusive interview with Yasin on RTL, click here
For the NRC’s report on the speech, click here