Film-maker who criticised Islam murdered

A DUTCH film-maker who received death threats after making a movie criticising the treatment of women under Islam was murdered in an Amsterdam street yesterday.

A suspect, a 26-year-old man with dual Dutch-Moroccan nationality, was arrested after a shoot-out.

Theo van Gogh, a distant relative of painter Vincent van Gogh, had been threatened after the August airing of his film, Submission, which he made with a right-wing Dutch politician who had renounced the Islamic faith of her birth.

Mr Van Gogh had received police protection after its release.

In a recent radio interview, Mr Van Gogh dismissed the threats and called the movie “the best protection I could have. It’s not something I worry about.”

Police said Mr Van Gogh’s killer shot and stabbed his victim and left a note on his body. They declined to comment on reports that Mr Van Gogh’s neck had been slashed.

Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende called on the Dutch people to remain calm and not to jump to conclusions.

Dutch national broadcaster NOS quoted an unidentified witness who said she heard six shots and saw the suspect concealing a gun. She said he walked away slowly, spoke to someone at the edge of the park, and then ran.

She said he was wearing a long beard and Islamic garb and appeared to be either an Arabic man or someone disguised as a Muslim.

In a written statement, the prime minister said: “Nothing is known about the motive. I want to call on everyone not to jump to far-reaching conclusions.”

Police spokesman Eric Vermeulen said the attacker fled to the nearby East Park, and was arrested after exchanging gunfire with police. Both the suspect and a police officer suffered minor injuries.

Mr Van Gogh’s killing immediately rekindled memories of the 2002 assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn who polarised the nation with his anti-immigration views and was shot to death days before national elections. An animal rights activist was later convicted of the killing.

Submission aired on Dutch television in August and enraged the Muslim community. It told the fictional story of a Muslim woman forced into a violent marriage, raped by a relative and brutally punished for adultery.

The English-language film was scripted by Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a member of the Dutch parliament, who has repeatedly outraged fellow Muslims by criticising Islamic customs.