A Belgium court has ordered a trial for Samuel Ozdemir, the controversial Wallonian preacher accused of inciting racial hatred.
Ozdemir, known as Pere Samuel to his followers, has been ordered to stand trial in Charleroi on charges stemming from alleged statements he made in documents in 2002. Earlier this year, he said on the French television station RTL that Islam in Europe is "the Nazism of tomorrow."
Dozens of his followers assembled outside the court during Thursday's brief hearing, Expatica reported.
Ozdemir was the minister at Gosselies, near Charleroi, but was suspended by the Tournai bishopric. He bought a church in Montignies-sur-Sambre in 2001 and is known as a "curer" and exorcist to his followers, Expatica said.
© Copyright 2006 by United Press International
