Dutch far-right politician walks free from 'hate speech' charges

"You are being acquitted on all the charges that were put against you," Judge Marcel van Oosten told Wilders who has been on trial in the Amsterdam regional court since October last year.

The flamboyant MP faced five counts of hate speech and discrimination for his anti-Islamic remarks on websites, Internet forums and in Dutch newspapers between October 2006 and March 2008, and in his controversial 17 minute movie "Fitna" ("Discord" in Arabic).

He also compared the Koran with Hitler's "Mein Kampf" while in "Fitna" he used shocking images of the September 11 attacks in the United States and other onslaughts against Western targets interspersed with verses from the Muslim holy book.

"The bench finds that your statements are acceptable within the context of the public debate," the judge told the platinum-haired politician, whose case was boosted by a prosecution unwilling to take aim at him.

"The bench finds that although gross and denigrating, it did not give rise to hatred," said Judge van Oosten.

The 47-year-old Wilders, whose right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) lends its support to the right-leaning Dutch coalition government, told journalists afterwards he was "overjoyed and very happy" to have been acquitted.

"It is not only a victory for me but also a victory for freedom of speech," he said outside the courtroom.

He added: "It means it is legal to criticise Islam."

The acquittal comes after Wilders last month argued before judges that he was "defending freedom in the Netherlands" against Islam.